Education, (re)training, and traffic stops: Felonious law enforcement officer deaths in the United States

Abstract

Traffic stops continue to be the primary contact between law enforcement and the public, yet little priority is given to traffic stop education and training. A systematic review of felonious traffic stop-related law enforcement officer (LEO) deaths from 1990 to June 2021 revealed the average LEO killed during and after traffic stops was male, in their late 30s, at the rank of officer, with an average tenure of 9.6 years, and killed by a firearm. A synthesis of state and local law enforcement regulations in states with the most officers killed showed the average hours spent in the academy on traffic stop-related training was 20.3 h (3.6%). The overall annual training requirement averaged just 13 h, and only one state required traffic stop-related training, which was once every four years. The lack of education, training, and retraining may precipitate deadly circumstances for a routine law enforcement function.