Author Description

Surviving the worst-case scenario is every police officer's greatest need. Officer Down 2014 examines the lessons learned from twenty-nine law enforcement officer line-of-duty deaths due to gunfire in 2013. By exploring the commonalities of these incidents, the book provides insight into the trends in violent encounters between suspects and officers, analyzing the confluence of deadly circumstances and behaviors that have led to the most recent police officer casualties. This book also examines the human factors involved in officer deaths from this perspective: fallen officers did not necessarily make mistakes, but the lessons to be learned from their losses are many. Going beyond the timeless concepts of "tombstone courage" and "don't rush in," the book presents in depth analysis of actions taken by suspects and officers, along with implications for law enforcement training and policy changes to better equip officers to avoid, or at least survive critical incidents.