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Cops undergo Below 100 safety training
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police from across Mahoning County gathered at the sheriff’s office Friday as part of the Below 100 training program for law enforcement.
The training, given by the state Department of Public Safety and Nationwide Insurance, encourages police officers to follow common- sense practices to stay safe. The goal is to reduce law- enforcement deaths across the country to under 100 per year. Jeffrey K. Scott, chief of police at Notre Dame College in South Euclid with more than 20 years of experience in law enforcement, said sometimes officers get complacent about their day-to-day responsibilities, and that missed attention to a slight detail could lead to their death or serious injury.
Some of those areas Scott reminds officers of are:
Making sure they wear their bulletproof vest.
Practice safe driving.
Scott said a lot of officer injuries could be avoided by paying attention to how they drive. He said because they spend so much time on the road, sometimes they become careless whether driving to a call or just on patrol.
When Scott talks about driving, he emphasizes slowing down and using seat belts.
“We need to make sure we’re driving responsibly,” Scott said.
As for the bulletproof vests, he said a lot of departments do not even issue them and a lot of officers do not like wearing them because they can be bulky and are uncomfortable, particularly when it is hot. Some officers also have the attitude they do not need a vest because they do not think they will ever need them.
Scott gave examples of officers in small towns who wore their vests and were shot and lived and long-time, veteran officers who did not like wearing vests and were killed because they were shot in an area where the vest usually would be.
Scott also said officers need to be well-versed in the policies and procedures of their departments and they must be fit and prepared.
He said that making a regular routine of bad practices can become a habit that is hard to break.
“If we ignore things we need to do in law enforcement, we condone it,” Scott said.
Continual training also is essential, Scott said.
Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said he heard Scott’s presentation when he attended recent training for county sheriffs in Sandusky and was so impressed he wanted to offer it to all police agencies in Mahoning because Scott addresses issues such as complacency and attention to detail daily.
“I felt it was important that police officers are aware of how dangerous doing their job is,” Greene said. “This class can help to reinforce the skill sets and procedures necessary to reduce serious injury or even death for police officers.”