WHEREAS, arson is a serious crime that affects each and every person and can only be reduced when citizens realize the severe damage that arson causes; and

WHEREAS, cities, communities and neighborhoods are blighted by arson which results in erosion of the tax base and loss of employment; and

WHEREAS, arson disrupts our educational and manufacturing systems with the destruction of irreplaceable buildings and artifacts; and

WHEREAS, countless human injuries and deaths result in the needless tragedies caused by acts of arson each year; and

WHEREAS, a large percentage of property insurance premiums are used to cover the losses from arson, and tax dollars must be used for fire extinguishment and the investigation of those malicious acts, which is a senseless waste of our precious resources when the majority of the public must directly bear the burden of an individual’s criminal action; and

WHEREAS, the financial loss annually due to arson reaches billions of dollars, which does not include indirect losses, both emotional and financial, including medical and legal costs, wages, business interruption, fire fighting and law enforcement efforts, which together exceed the direct losses many fold; and

WHEREAS, the first full week of May each year has been designated as “National Arson Awareness Week” by the United States Fire Administration, the International Association of Special Investigations Unit, the Insurance Committee for Arson Control, and the International Association of Arson Investigators; and

WHEREAS, the IACP Arson and Explosives Committee is committed to increasing an awareness of arson enforcement issues within the Association and the general public; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the IACP encourages all members to fully support “National Arson Awareness Week” during the first full week of May of each year, creating a national umbrella of recognition, awareness, understanding, and prevention of the serious arson problem in the United States.