New Study Finds That De-Escalation Policies Put Officers' Lives at Risk

Aug. 16, 2017
The study concluded that officers working for de-escalation agencies are twice as likely to be killed and 10 times more likely to be injured.

Newly released research found that law enforcement officers working for agencies with de-escalation policies are more to be killed or injured in the line of duty.

Brian Landers -- a former police officer who is now the chair of the criminal justice department at Madison College in Wisconsin -- authored the study as part of his master's thesis, according to .

The research project concluded that on officer working for a de-escalation agency is twice as likely to be killed in the line of duty and 10 times more likely to be injured in the line of duty.

The study focused on L.E. agencies around the country with and without de-escalation policies that require officers to slow things down in an effort to lessen or avoid force on calls. The research project studied 75,000 officers over a five-year period.

"The agencies without de-escalation policies, the number of officers killed and assaulted were dramatically lower than the agencies with de-escalation policies in place," Landers told the news station.

He said that while de-escalation can prove a valuable tool for law enforcement officers, it can not be the first response for all calls.

"I've had officers tell me that they are forced with decisions out on the street that goes against every facet of training and instinct of officer safety from fear they are going to be disciplined because the policy is telling them that they should not use force," he said. "They are dealing with people that are high on heroin and fentanyl. They are dealing with a wide variety of other types of mental illness and alcoholism where people are raging, violent and uncontrollable."

Previous research conducted by the the Police Executives Research Forum found that de-escalation improves officer safety.

Landers hopes that his research causes policymakers to take a long look at any policy they have to enact to ensure they do not threaten the lives of officers.

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