Since motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of death for U.S. law enforcement officers, this article reports the findings and methodology of an evaluation of a large law enforcement agency's implementation of an officer crash prevention program that involved standard operating policy changes, increased training, and a marketing campaign.
MVC and motor vehicle injury (MVI) data for law enforcement officers were compared using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Two law enforcement agencies that had not implemented a crash prevention program were controls. The evaluation found that after program implementation, MVC rates significantly decreased from 2.2 MVCs per 100 000 miles driven to 1.9 (P =.008). MVC rates did not decrease in the control agencies. Overall, MVI rates significantly decreased 31percent, from 3.4 per 100 officers to 2.1 (P =.0002). MVC rates did not decrease in the control agencies. MVC rates for patrol officers significantly decreased 21 percent from 3.1 per 100,000 miles to 2.4. MVI rates for patrol officers significantly decreased 48 percent, from 3.2 per 100 officers to 1.6 (P <01;.0001). The evaluation concludes that law enforcement officer crash and injury rates can be reduced after implementation of a crash prevention program, with the largest impacts occurring in patrol officers. (publisher abstract modified)
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