Law enforcement officers are second only to taxi cab drivers in terms of the rates at which they are murdered on the job. Their rate of non-fatal violent victimizations exceeds that of taxi drivers and, indeed, exceeds the rates of all other occupational groups. Despite the seriousness and importance of the problem of violence against the police and despite considerable changes within agencies over recent years geared toward improving officer safety, we know surprisingly little about the impact of various law enforcement agency initiatives on the level of violence against their personnel. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) proposes a project the aim of which is to identify law enforcement agency policies, practices, and training that reduce the incidence of assaults and murders of on-duty police officers. The project will produce policy relevant information for law enforcement agencies that can be used to safeguard police on the streets. To achieve our aim, we will use multivariate statistical analyses to identify the factors both internal and external to law enforcement agencies that impact on the rate at which police are assaulted/murdered. The dependent variable will be the rates at which officers are assaulted/murdered. The two sets of independent variables will represent (1) factors internal to the agency that might impact on officer safety (e.g., training, policies, practices, equipment), and (2) factors external to the agency that might impact on the rate at which officers are assaulted/killed (e.g., violent crime rate, poverty level). The second set of variables (external variables), selected based on prior research, are necessary control variables that will enable us to effectively identify the impact of the organizational variables. In addition to a technical report for the funding agency, we will produce a practical guide for law enforcement officers and executives summarizing our findings and outlining recommendations based on our results that can promote the safety of officers on our streets.
