August 4, 2015

Defined by a Presidential Task Force as one of the six pillars of the 21st Century Policing, officer safety and wellness is crucial for the well-being of individual police officers, police departments and our nation’s communities. Every day thousands of American law enforcement personnel put their lives on the line to safeguard communities. In their eagerness to serve, officers often take for granted their own vulnerabilities and disregard their personal safety.

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS Office) and the Major City Chiefs Association developed a roadmap entitled “Making Officer Safety and Wellness Priority One.” This publication offers guidance to departments interested in creating and implementing effective officer wellness strategies to establish a culture of safety. The document provides creative techniques to engage officers at various stages in their careers and it offers a six-step approach for implementing an officer safety and wellness campaign. With the guidance of this publication, department leaders can establish a culture of safety that permeates their entire organization.

In 2013, the leading cause of line-of-death for officers in the United States was traffic-related incidents. Of the 43 officers killed, 32 officers lost their lives in motor vehicle crashes.¹ The Los Angeles Police Department in December of 2013 launched an awareness campaign to encourage officers to “buckle up” through a documentary entitled “Remembering 5th and Wall.” On December 12, 1998, three officers were killed after being thrown from two LAPD cruisers that collided at a Skid Row intersection. The sole survivor of that fateful crash was an officer wearing a seat belt.²The film captures the experience of the survivor and officers who responded to provide a chilling reminder of the cost that could be paid for ignoring personal safety.

Max De Pree, author of Leadership is an Art, said “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.” The current reality is that with increased scrutiny on the law enforcement community comes unprecedented levels of officer stress. Higher job stress increases officer vulnerability and can decrease officer wellness.”Making Officer Safety and Wellness Priority One” is a practical resource available to every police department in the country. Implementing its guidance will lay the foundation for creating a culture of officer safety.

To every officer reading this, stay safe out there and thank you for your service.

For more information about the COPS Office, please visit us at www.cops.usdoj.gov. You can also follow us on Twitter at @COPSOffice and like us on Facebook at DOJCOPS.

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¹National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund “Law Enforcement Officers Deaths: 2013 Report” http://www.nleomf.org/assets/pdfs/reports/2013-EOY-Fatality-Report.pdf
²The Columbian “LAPD to on-duty officers: Buckle up; Traffic-related fatalities leading cause of death” December 2013 http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/dec/12/lapd-to-on-duty-officers-buckl…