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1981 ~ORCEME ' T rBI BULLETIN ~ORCEMENT rBl BULLETIN FEBRUARY 1981. VOLUME 50. NUMBER 2 Contents Training 1 Police Officer Survival During Traffic Stops By William J. Thomas and Frank W. Boyer Physical Security 7 Police Planning For Prison Disturbances By Capt. Charles McCarthy Crime Resistance 10 Commercial Crime Prevention Can Earn Insurance Discounts By D. P. Van Blaricom Crime Problems 12 Film and Video Tape Piracy: A Growing EpidemiC By Richard H. Bloeser Management 19 Managing Promotions and Resulting Conflict: A Realistic Approach By Norman C. Couns Police-Community 24 A Crime Prevention Program For The Handicapped Relations By William E. Perry, Jr. The Legal Digest 26 The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 By Larry E. Rissler 32 Wanted by the FBI THE COVER: A routine Federal Bureau of Investigation Published by the OffIce of Congressional and traffic stop can be a United States Department of Justice PubliC AffairS. potentially dangerous Roger S. Young situation to the police Washington, D.C. 20535 Assistant Director officer. See artIcle p. 1. William H. Webster, Director Editor-Thomas J. Deakin ASSistant Editor-Kathryn E. SulewskI The Attorney General has determined that the publicatIon Art Dlfector-Carl A. Gnam. Jr. of th,s periodIcal IS necessary In the transacllon of the Water/Editor-Karen McCarron L Summers public bUSiness required by law of the Department of Production Manager-Jeffery JustIce Use of funds for printIng th,s periodIcal has been approved by the Director of the Offtce of Management and Budget through December 28. 1983. ISSN 0014-5688 USPS 383-310 Another sad chapter has been written in the history of violence in the Police Officer Survival United States. Nationwide, in 1979, 106 law enforcement officers were During Traffic Stops slain while performing police duties.' Assaults upon police officers seem to be spreading like cancer in our turbu• By William J. Thomas, Director lent society. And Frank W. Boyer, Instructor-Coordinator Are these annual statistics inevita• Division of Law Enforcement Training ble? Does commonsense suggest Kentucky Department of Justice there is room for improvement? Will a Bureau of Training reappraisal of police practices contrib• Richmond, Ky. ute to a reduction of these violent con• flicts which, all too often, result in police and violator injuries and death? If we could minimize or eliminate our mistakes, could some of these lives be saved? ." I / The Kentucky Department of Jus• 1979. It seemed logical, then, to review tice, Bureau of Training, recently the "traditional" traffic stop to deter• sought to answer these questions dur• mine where we were most vulnerable. ing a case-by-case study of police inju• For many years, police officers ries and death. An attempt was made have been trained to use one or two to reconstruct the actual occurrences methods for vehicle stops. The first to determine those factors which di• method requires the officer to position rectly contributed to serious or fatal his vehicle 10 feet to the rear and 3 injury. In addition to reviewing these feet to the left of the stopped vehicle. case histories, instructors interviewed The second method calls for the officer street policemen, shared experiences to park the cruiser directly behind the with each other, and researched avail• violator's car, which permits normal able material, which was scarce. The traffic flow and decreases vehicular contributing factors derived from the congestion. When using either of these study became the foundation for an stops, the officer is instructed to com• "officer survival" training program, es• municate a description of the vehicle tablished by the Bureau of Training, and its occupants, the license number, which was designed to teach officers and location where the stop occurs. to handle difficult confrontations in a Thereafter, the officer typically re• Mr. Thomas professional manner. trieves a hat and flashlight in prepara• The training program is presently tion for leaving his vehicle. being taught to over 3,000 Kentucky When approaching the violator, police officers. Successful completion the officer is taught to check the vehi• of at least 40 hours of annual inservice cle trunk to ensure it is secure, check training is mandated for all officers who the rear seat and passengers, and receive a State-funded salary supple• then, if all is clear, to approach the ment. The purpose of this pay incen• violator. Most officers have been tive program is to enhance police taught to stand slightly behind the driv• professionalism through training. er's side door, which affords protection The survival course includes prac• from a sudden opening of the door and tical training in answering disturbance which requires the offender to turn calls, handling felony-in-progress calls, around if he intends to assault the stopping and approaching vehicles, officer. Also, we have been taught to conducting custody and building watch the violator's (and passengers') searches, and planning raids. In addi• hands while they rummage through tion, officers study survival statistics, their clothing, purse, glovebox, or con• clandestine weapons, and body armor. sole in response to the question, "May Emphasis is placed on avoiding mis• I see your operator's license, please?" takes which may place an officer in Once the officer obtains the li• cense and explains the reason for Mr. Boyer danger. Officers are taught that main• taining control of the situation will re• stopping the violator, he moves to the duce the need to use force, thereby location where the citation will be writ• affording protection to suspects and ten . The officer then turns his back to arresting officers as well. As a direct result of this research and training program, new and safe techniques were developed for every• day police practices. Developing those techniques began with a look at surviv• al statistics. For example, our research indicated that nationwide in 1979, 6,329 police officers were assaulted and 15 slain during traffic pursuits and stopS.2 Also, our research in Kentucky revealed that 79 assaults and 1 death resulted from traffic stops made during 2 I FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin the violator and walks back to his po• lice cruiser. In some communities, it is common practice to allow the violator to sit in the police cruiser while the citation is being completed. In any event, most pOlice officers complete the citation in the front seat of their cruiser, with the dome light on if at nighttime. After the citation is complete, the officer again leaves the cruiser to ap• proach the violator. Some have to stop to record the vehicle tag number be• cause they parked too close to see it while seated in their cruisers. Many officers admitted being less careful during this second approach, having been lulled into a false sense of secu• rity after the initial encounter. Finally, the officer returns to the rear of the violator's door, explains the citation and court requirements, ob• tains the violator's signature, and re• turns to his cruiser. As he walks back, with citation in hand, he may be carry• ing the only piece of evidence which later may be used to place the violator at this location and time. How many times was the officer in this traffic stop One method of a traditional traffic stop is for the officer to park his cruiser directly behind the vulnerable? violator's car. 1) When the officer first makes the stop, searching for items before exiting his police unit; 2) While approaching the suspect vehicle; 3) While the violator's (or passengers') hands were removed from the officer's sight, in order to find an operator's license; 4) As the officer returns to the cruiser with his back turned; 5) While sitting in the cruiser writing the citation; 6) During the second approach to deliver the citation; 7) While engaged in a second encounter with the violator; and 8) When he turns his back to return to the cruiser, signed citation in hand. When returning to his cruiser, with back turned to the viola tor, the officer becomes vulnerable to potential attack. February 1981 I 3 By requesting the violator to step back to the When writing the Citation, the officer should face police cruiser, the officer can keep the violator and the violator from a distance of 8 to 10 feet. using any occupants of his car constantly in view. peripheral vision to observe any movement by the thereby protecting himself from attack. violator or the occupants in his car. These eight points of vulnerability In those cases where a police offi• Next, the officer locates his flash• are not omnipresent, or all inclusive, in cer has an explainable justification for light and ticket book and dons his hat, all traditional traffic stops. Further• feeling that his safety is in jeopardy, if required. Once the officer has com• more, they do not indicate that this the Bureau of Training advocates pleted these steps, he is ready to make method should never be used. The a traffic stop which considers a the stop. He activates the emergency Bureau of Training advocates con• higher threat level. These circum• equipment and communicates to the tinued use of the traditional stop during stances should represent possible radio dispatcher the vehicle and occu• inclement weather, when stopping the danger Signals to the officer. pant description, license number, and handicapped, or in any circumstances Whenever an officer observes a location where the stop occurs. Rather where the officer feels reasonably violation under such circumstances than returning the microphone back to secure in his personal safety. and decides to make a traffic stop, he its holder, he places it to the left side of We recognize, however, that should roll the driver's side window the steering column for ready access these are extraordinary times.

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