The Future of Law Enforcement Safety Training in the Face of Terrorism

The articles contained in this issue were presented at the Future of Law Enforcement Safety Training in the Face of Terrorism conference held at the FBI Academy on January 3 through 7, 2005. Anthony J. Pinizzotto and Edward F. Davis with the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI's Training and Development Division and Charles E. Miller III with the Training and Systems Education Unit of the Criminal Justice Information Services Division hosted 50 individuals from local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The attendees represented street-level officers, supervisors, administrators, and trainers.

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One of the goals of the conference involved examining information-gathering methods and disseminating more data to members of the criminal justice system by the FBI's Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Program. Sharing their keen insights into current and future requirements of the law enforcement community, the conference participants recognized the need to develop better, realistic, and more focused safety training. Historical data gathered and published annually in the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted report have enabled researchers to predict under what circumstances officers will continue to die while performing their official duties. A dire necessity exists to establish different ways to train officers to survive these daily interactions with criminal elements, both foreign and domestic.

On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists not only deliberately caused death and destruction at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in the skies above the United States but also killed 73 of this nation's law enforcement officers. This resulted in more felonious deaths of officers than died due to adversarial action for that entire year. This tragedy caused a reexamination of training philosophies concerning law enforcement safety. Future training programs, while incorporating traditional safety methods to combat criminal assaults, also must focus on the possibility of additional terrorist attacks.

The Future of Law Enforcement Safety Training in the Face of Terrorism conference examined two areas of law enforcement training: 1) issues regarding traditional training in law enforcement and 2) the need to develop new and innovative ways to implement law enforcement safety issues in training curricula. The articles in this publication reflect these views.

Most law enforcement agencies have mottos on their patrol vehicles that include the phrase "To Protect and Serve." Officers continue to protect their communities from terrorists, as well as the criminal element. But, to serve and protect their citizens, officers also must protect themselves.

COPYRIGHT 2005 Federal Bureau of Investigation
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group