Below 100: Law enforcement training combats complacency with safe practices

By Priscilla Petersen, southeast Kansas Public Affairs Manager 

Transportation safety is for everyone all the time. We recently had a chance to sit in on safety training for law enforcement officers, which was sponsored by KDOT. 

“We’re still killing ourselves by driving too fast and not wearing our seat belts,” instructor Adam Kary reminded his audience of law enforcement officials. An officer with the Topeka Police Department, Kary visited Iola recently to present the “Below 100” training to southeast Kansas police, sheriff and highway patrol staff.

 Adam Kary of the Topeka Police Department conducts ‘Below 100’ training for area law enforcement officers.

Below 100 is based on “Honoring the Fallen by Training the Living.” As the course began, Kary had everyone close their eyes and imagine themselves at a funeral for a fellow officer killed in the line of duty.

Every year since 1943, more than 100 law enforcement officers have been lost to line-of-duty deaths (LODD’s). “We need to hold ourselves accountable for our own actions,” Kary said.

The goal of Below 100 is to take LODD’s down to less than 100 each year, and to continue to reduce law enforcement deaths by addressing five crucial areas:

• Wear seat belts;
• Wear vest (body armor);
• Watch speed;
• Decide what is most important now;
• Complacency kills.

Kary told the class that the three factors in vehicular LODD’s are excessive speed, not wearing seat belts, and being struck by another vehicle. He asked the group to consider the time it takes to drive from point to point, and to think about whether speeding would actually get them to their destinations more quickly. Kary added that vehicular stopping distances increase at higher speeds. “We are not just killing ourselves” by not controlling behaviors such as speeding, he said, but are putting others at risk.

Throughout the session Kary showed videos and camera footage from traffic stops to illustrate how important it is for officers to remain vigilant, keep themselves safe, and be able to prioritize what is most important about each traffic stop and interaction with the public. He encouraged officers to engage in ‘courageous conversations’ with colleagues about seat belt use and the other LODD contributing factors. “Ignored behavior is condoned behavior,” Kary said.

Although changing organizational policy and culture will take time, Kary reminded the group that “complacency kills.”