How to prevent accidents in law enforcement

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The Operation of an emergency vehicle is a major part of the law enforcement career. It is a known fact that most officers spend up to 95 percent of their time on each shift inside their vehicle. However, it is also statistically in the top two most dangerous parts of the job. An officers vehicle is nothing more than a tool to perform his/her job but is also a very dangerous tool at the same time. It is an officer’s responsibility to operate his vehicle with regard for the safety of the citizens as well as themselves at all times. Studies show that more officers die each year as a result of an accident in their emergency vehicle than answering to an emergency situation or being wounded by a weapon. A very high percentage of this study also shows that these accidents are single vehicle accidents where an officer was exceeding the speed limit responding to or not responding to an emergency call, chasing a fleeing suspect, or not having enough regard of what was happening in his/her surroundings while operating the emergency vehicle. Because of the time that an officer spends in his emergency vehicle it shows that he/she has a much higher chance of being involved in an automobile accident. Even with this fact standing, there are many steps that can be taken by the officer to help limit preventable accidents in the vehicle. One of the first steps for an officer to take while operating the vehicle is to always operate it by their departments standard operating procedures regardless of why he/she is operating the vehicle at a certain time. A department’s S.O.P has strict guidelines that are there for no other reason than to ensure the vehicle is operated safely and with regard for the safety of others as well as the officer. Procedures do not guarantee an officer not to be involved in an accident but they do however guide the officer with steps to take that lead the

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