Protecting the occupational health and safety of police officers

Abstract

Protection of the health and safety of police officers is fundamental to good operational policing. As shown in Trends and Issues paper number 196, the patterns of injury, illness and homicide amongst police officers are often predictable. Knowledge about high-risk situations and offenders enables appropriate prevention strategies to be implemented to reduce the risks. This paper is based on international research and outlines a range of preventive strategies.

This project was funded by the Crime Prevention Branch of the Criminal Justice Division, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department.