TRAINING
Why supervisors review
law enforcement crashes
While on patrol in a residential district, an offi-
cer receives a call for service. Dispatch is report-
ing that a citizen is having difficulty breathing
and there is a 15-minute ETA for the ambulance
to arrive. The officer activates his lights and heads
to the call. While traveling through the streets, his
speeds reach 40 to 45 mph in the 25-mph zone.
JAMES
He intermittently utilizes his siren to move ve-
HARRIS
hicles aside while passing them in a no-passing
zone. As he rounds a corner with lights on, a vehicle suddenly
pulls out from a side street and the two vehicles collide. Who
is at fault for the crash?
The review of a law enforcement vehicle crash will typically
fall on the shoulders of the first-line supervisor. It is his or her
duty to obtain all of the pertinent information and document
the circumstances of the crash. In most situations, however,
this supervisor abdicates that responsibility to a senior patrol
officer or traffic officer, stating that these officers are more
qualified to conduct the investigation.
While it is true that these officers are more adept at ob-
taining and documenting the information for the report, the
actual investigation of the crash itself must be conducted by
the supervisory officer. It is that officer’s final notations in the
document that will not only determine the cause of the crash
but assist with ensuring his or her officers are safe for the fu-
ture.
Each year, our profession will suffer the loss of many law
enforcement officers due to motor vehicle-related incidents.
According to the statistics promulgated by the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial, motor vehicle crashes are
second only to officers being shot and killed in the line duty.
The first-line supervisor in your agency is charged with the
responsibility of ensuring that your agency does not add to
these statistics.
The supervisory officer reviewing this crash must examine
all pieces of the puzzle to make his or her determination based
on the totality of the circumstances. Although we don’t want
to take a position that our officer was in the wrong, we must
base our determination on reasonable observations. With the
advent of video recordings now integrated in our operations,
this makes our job easier. The supervisor must take these vid-
eos into account and review them prior to documenting a fi-
nal judgment on the reports.
Supervisors must review the speed the officer was travel-
ling in relation to the posted speed limit and traffic conditions
in the area. They must review the use of the lights and siren
being applied by the officer during the course of travel, and
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ MARCH 2017
determine if they could have been utilized more effectively to
warn others of their presence. They must review the overall
response of the officer in relation to the type of call he or she
was responding to in order to see if the operation of the vehi-
cle in such a manner was truly justified. Once these items are
reviewed in conjunction with the statements obtained and
evidence recovered, the first-line supervisor can document
his or her findings on the official report. However, this is just
the beginning of the supervisor’s responsibility.
The real work of the first-line supervisor begins after this
report is complete. In most circumstances, it is this part of the
job that never occurs because it is the most difficult to do as
a supervisor. Upon completion of the report, it is the investi-
gating supervisor’s responsibility to review the crash with the
officer, and make him or her aware of the situation that led to
the crash. If the supervisor believes that others on their squad
may be making these same errors, it is his or her responsibility
to debrief the squad about these circumstances so that others
may learn from this incident and the agency can reduce sim-
ilar crashes in the future. In some situations, that supervisor
may share this information with the command staff so that
agency-wide training may occur.
In addition, a “meaningful review” of the incident typi-
cally takes place within the agency’s Office of Profession-
al Standards or Internal Affairs Division. This unit is tasked
with ensuring this responsibility is being fulfilled. Its review
must ensure that the supervisory officer conducted this type
of thorough investigation and debriefed the officer, squad or
others as to the cause, so that this type of incident can be min-
imized in the future.
In short, the officers who work for our agencies are our
family, and our most important asset. It is the responsibility
of our agency and its supervisory staff to make every effort
to protect them from harm. By ensuring that our supervisors
properly investigate motor vehicle crashes and share the les-
sons learned with the officer and others, our profession can
enhance officer safety, assist us with our responsibility of pro-
tecting our employees and reduce law enforcement officer
deaths throughout the nation. d
Jim Harris is the President/CEO of the J. Harris Academy of Po-
lice Training, whose primary focus is assisting officers in their
preparation for upcoming promotional examinations with a
secondary focus on providing officers and agencies with in-ser-
vice and other specialty classes. The Academy is based in New
Jersey, with services available nationwide. Harris is a captain
with the Toms River Police Department, and an FBI National
Academy Graduate.