Excellence in Training - Get with the program

Below 100 is an initiative started by Dale Stockton and Law Officer magazine targeted at reducing annual line of duty deaths for law enforcement officers in the United States to below 100. The last time there were less than 100 officers who died in the line of duty in a single year in the US was 1944. The program is designed to attack those areas most within the control of every law enforcement professional and create cultural change within the law enforcement profession. In October 2010 Law Officer put out a special issue explaining the program and the five tenets:

Wear Your Belt
Wear Your Vest
Watch Your Speed
W.I.N. – What’s Important Now?
Remember: Complacency Kills

While Below 100 is a US based initiative the problem of cops driving too fast, not wearing seat belts and body armour, becoming complacent and failing to focus on What’s Important Now is a North America wide, and likely a world wide issue. The first Below 100 Trainer classes were run in 2011 and the program really began to take hold in 2012 and 2013. Here are some interesting statistics:

Line of Duty Vehicle Related Deaths in the US

Combined 2010/2011 = 135

Combined 2012/2013 = 93

Line of Duty Gunfire Deaths in the US

Combined 2010/2011 = 126

Combined 2012/2013 = 92

LODD Total

2010 and 2011 = 354

2012 and 2013 = 228

The 123 Line of Duty Deaths (LODD) in 2012 was a 50 year low and the 106 LODD in 2013 is the lowest since 1944.

Now, I am not going to tell you that Below 100 is single handedly responsible for those dramatic decreases in LODD. I will tell you however, that I am convinced Below 100 played a huge role. In 2012 and 2013 hundreds of officers around North America were trained as Below 100 trainers and thousands went through some level of Below 100 training. Below 100 is now part of many police academies around North America and the message is being delivered at roll call sessions and in-service training at agencies of all sizes. There are Below 100 posters in locker rooms, briefing rooms and hallways and there are signs reminding officers of the fundamental tenets on vehicle gates, sign posts and police vehicles. Below 100 is being talked about at the ILEETA, IACP and the National Sheriffs Assoc. conferences. Ignored behaviour is condoned behaviour. Around North America street level supervisors, police officers and deputies are choosing to no longer ignore dangerous behaviours and are having courageous conversations with fellow officers and changing those behaviours. Law enforcement professionals are getting the message and buckling up, slowing down, wearing their body armour and focusing on What’s Important Now.

If you are not with the program you are doing a disservice to your officers and their families. If you have not been to a Below 100 intensive or a Below 100 Trainer class then make it your mission in 2014 to get to one and then to spread the message. This program is changing behaviours, changing the culture and saving lives, but there is more work to be done. In 2013 heart attacks were the third leading cause of deaths behind vehicle related incidents and gunfire deaths.

Go to www.below100.com and get with the program.

Take care.

Brian Willis

Committed to excellence in training through Life’s Most Powerful Question – What’s Important Now?

At Winning Mind Training we are driven by our dedication to inspiring the pursuit of personal excellence and our belief that every law enforcement officer deserves to experience awesome training.

If you like the Excellence in Training philosophy make sure you attend the comprehensive and one of a kind Excellence in Training Course. Check out our website at www.brianw260.sg-host.com for a list of upcoming dates and locations for the Excellence in Training Course.

To book Brian to speak at your event or to your officers contact him at winningmind@mac.com.

Excellence in Training – Get with the program

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