Felonious Line-of-Duty Officer Deaths (1995–1999): The Impact of Tenure and Age

Abstract

This article examines officer age and employment tenure variables in the FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted summary from 1995 to 1999. During this time frame, 309 incidents of felonious officer deaths were reported to the FBI. The purpose of this paper is to identify patterns in the data for application within law enforcement when considering training needs over the life cycle of an officer's career, and to conduct original, exploratory research in the field. The research concludes that the combination of 0-4 years of experience combined with the ages 30-39 years was particularly deadly for the years 1995-1999. Finally, based on the findings, considerations for hiring, training and data collection are made.

Spatial risk factors of felonious battery to police officers

“…Age and on-the-job experience provides LEOs with exposure to techniques and skills in life saving risk management strategies (Kaminski and Sorensen, 1995;Tucker-Gail et al, 2010). Studies have also found that officers are more likely to be killed or battered in first, officer vehicles than assignments to foot patrol, undercover work, second, officer vehicles, special assignments, or while off-duty (Tucker-Gail et al, 2010). We did not have access to these variables in this study.…”

“…It is noted that characteristics of the officer and 832 PIJPSM 37,4 offender might also influence the risk of battery to police officers (Brandl and Stroshine, 2012;Swedler et al, 2013). Age and on-the-job experience provides LEOs with exposure to techniques and skills in life saving risk management strategies (Kaminski and Sorensen, 1995;Tucker-Gail et al, 2010). Studies have also found that officers are more likely to be killed or battered in first, officer vehicles than assignments to foot patrol, undercover work, second, officer vehicles, special assignments, or while off-duty (Tucker-Gail et al, 2010).…”

“…We were not able to examine whether specific police officers were more likely to experience physical assault than other officers. A relationship has been found to exist, however, between an officer's history of past battery victimization and future involvement in felonious battery (Tucker-Gail et al, 2010). Officers who have experienced prior victimization are at a greater risk of future battery.…”

Childhood Adversities and Resistant Behaviors Toward Law Enforcement Officers in a National Sample of State and Federal Inmates

“…Research examining the link between gender and resistant behaviors is mixed, with some studies finding significant effects of female sex (Covington et al., 2014; Crawford & Burns, 2002; Engel, 2003) and others identifying an insignificant relationship (Kaminski & Sorenson, 1995; Kavanagh, 1997). Officer-level variables consist of age, length of tenure, (Tucker-Gail, Selman, Kobolt, & Hill, 2010), and female sex (Rabe-Hemp & Schuck, 2007). Variables that fall within the purview of organizational context are body armor policies, violent crime rates of the precinct (Fridell, Faggiani, Taylor, Brito, & Kubu, 2009), the number of minority law enforcement officers (Barrick, Hickman, & Strom, 2014), and aggressive drug enforcement policing tactics (Wilson & Zhao, 2008).…”

Felonious line-of-duty officer deaths (1995–2015): The impact of tenure and age revisited

“…These conclusions led to policy and training implications and implementations (POST, 2001). Therefore, to aid the development of training and policy adjustments, Tucker-Gail et al (2010) examined the patterns of age and tenure within the felonious officer death data between 1995 and 1999 nationwide and found that the age and tenure of most victim officers may be related to circumstances such as police department hiring rates (Tucker-Gail et al, 2010). Because of the effects of time on the police department hiring climate, the continued overall downward trend in felonious officer deaths, and the spike in 2010 and 2011, replication of this study on age and tenure patterns between 1995 and 2015 will allow for a clearer picture of how these key characteristics are related to felonious officer deaths.…”