SUPPORT FOR THE FBIS REVISED REPORTING OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS KILLED AND ASSAULTED (LEOKA) DATA

Submitted by: Highway Safety Committee

HSC.015.a08

WHEREAS, every law enforcement agency is charged with the responsibility of protecting the life and property of its citizenry and community; and

WHEREAS, in order to fulfill their duties and responsibilities to their communities, law enforcement officers must first protect themselves; and

WHEREAS, over the last decade (1997-2006), 1,301 law enforcement officers were killed and 578,926 were assaulted while performing their official duties as law enforcement officers, and;

WHEREAS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) Program publishes an annual statistical report for the purpose of assisting law enforcement managers, trainers, and personnel in identifying training issues for the purpose of preventing deaths and/or serious injuries to law enforcement personnel; and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has been for many years a strong proponent of the FBI's LEOKA Program; and

WHEREAS, the IACP Highway Safety Committee Law Enforcement Stops and Safety Subcommittee (LESSS) requested that LEOKA provide more information on law enforcement officers killed and injured accidentally, specifically during traffic stops and other roadside contacts; and

WHEREAS, in an effort to improve the quantity and quality of the data captured, the FBI has revised the current reporting forms utilized by law enforcement agencies to submit injury and death data; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the IACP, duly assembled at its 115th Annual Conference in San Diego, California, supports the implementation of the revised Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted reporting forms; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED that the IACP reaffirms the importance for all law enforcement agencies to record and submit to the LEOKA Program all incidents involving both accidental and felonious deaths, as well as assaults, of law enforcement personnel.