Page 21 - May 2018 FOP Magazine

al DOJ that covers a seven-year span from 2010-2016: Domestic dispute calls were the most dangerous, accounting for 29 per- cent of all fatal calls for service. In the last two years of the study, this category increased by 7 percent over earlier rankings. This type of call is most predominantly associated with ambushes. Some of these fatalities involved officers being fired on from more than 50 feet away.
Disturbance calls were the next largest group, down slightly from earlier totals but still representing 13 percent of total call- for-service fatalities. Man-with-a-gun calls doubled from previ- ous tabulations to take third place, with 10 percent of fatal calls.
Shots fired was number four. This category of call also in- creased dramatically over earlier totals, now accounting for 9 percent of officer deaths, according to the report.
The average time on the job for officers slain on a call for ser- vice was about 13 years. In nearly one third of these cases, the officers were alone when they were killed. In 45 percent, offi- cers had been advised that the suspect(s) might be armed or had made prior threats.
Besides analyzing calls for service, the study also rates the relative threats of officers’ self-initiated enforcement activities, specifically traffic stops and investigations of suspicious per- sons and vehicles.
Traffic stops resulting in fatal assaults on officers dominat- ed this category, accounting for more than half of the officer deaths. In 21 percent of cases, the attack occurred before the officer made contact with the violator, mostly while exiting the squad car or approaching the stopped vehicle. Another 22 per- cent occurred while making an arrest. But the greatest number of slayings — nearly half — happened as the interaction with the driver and passengers began.
Single officers were involved in more than one third of the traffic-stop–related fatalities, while dealing with a vehicle with multiple occupants. As a result, the researchers strongly recom- mend that backup be dispatched on solo-officer stops to “pro- vide enhanced visibility and protection from a crash but more importantly to [allow] the contact officer to run the necessary checks without having to keep an eye on the vehicle and its oc- cupants.”
The report reveals that more than 60 percent of the officers assassinated by ambush during the study period “were not on a call or engaged in any enforcement activity. One in five of those ambushed were seated in their patrol vehiclesvehicles. ... Many of [the others] were simply eating, sitting on post, or...targeted and killed while at their home or on their way home. The use of rifles was almost equal to the use of handguns in ambush-style shootings, and the overall analysis...showed an increasing dis- tance at which officers were shot and killed.”
In impressive detail, the report counts the toll of officers from a variety of other causes, including blue-on-blue shootings and lack of seatbelt and body armor usage. The statistics are often startling.
For instance, 30 percent of officers who were killed in situa- tions where body armor may have provided enhanced protec- tion were not wearing a ballistic vest. And in one year alone (2016), 52 percent of officers involved in fatal auto crashes were not wearing their seatbelts.
The report is titled “Making It Safe.” I extend prayers and good thoughts to the families of all the officers who gave their lives for the protection of others. Their sacrifice is not lost on the silent majority. d
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ MAY 2018 21