Motorcycles have been used for police operations since the early 1900s. The motorcycle has sustained itself as a premier platform for the delivery of policing duties, and especially excels at traffic enforcement and public relations duties. The motorcycle’s small surface foot-print, its’ maneuverability and public appeal have ensured its place at the forefront of modern policing. I can think of no greater symbol of traffic safety then a police officer astride a motorcycle.
The High Cost of Success!
Over 1100 motor officers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the performance of their duties and countless others have suffered life altering injuries since the use of motorcycles in law enforcement was adopted. Police motorcycle collisions rank third in the cause of death of police officers in United States behind only gunfire and automobile collisions. (source: odmp.com)
Risk Management!
Motorcycling in and of itself, is a risky undertaking. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) 2005 statistics, motorcyclists are eight times more likely to be injured in a crash and 34 times more likely to be killed than a car driver per vehicle mile traveled. Adding policing duties to motorcycle operations only increases the risk. Modern policing has embraced the concept of risk management. Risk Management is any activity that involves the evaluation of, or comparison of risks and the development, selection and implementation of control measures that change, reduce or eliminate the probability or the consequences of a harmful action. In laymen’s terms identifying the dangerous or risky areas of our work and doing things to lessen the danger or risk. Having a goal of increasing safety for our personnel, the public at large, and minimizing our liability exposure is a worthy and admirable aspiration. History and research show us that if we have good training we will have success minimizing risk to our people. Good training means sound initial basic instruction and ongoing, progressive training periods.
Information is Power!
The World Wide Association of Motor Officers (WWAMO) is undertaking a survey to determine the size and nature of police motorcycle operations throughout North America and to ascertain the types and depth of training provided by police agencies that utilize police motorcycles. This information will be utilized to forge the future direction of police motorcycling training.
Who is WWAMO? WWAMO was formed in the late 1990s when a few forward-thinking people realized there was no national entity to unite the police motorcycle community. WWAMO was created to bond the police motorcycling community into a worldwide brotherhood. WWAMO has since identified a gap that there was no reservoir of information relating to the number of police motorcycles and operators that were in use in law enforcement and that there were no national police motorcycle training standards. The World Wide Association of Motor Officers undertook the task of rectifying this shortcoming.
WWAMO struck a working group to;
1) Determine the number of police motorcycle officers in North America, their location, and the type and duration (if any) of basic and ongoing motorcycle training they have received,
2) Create scientifically supported and validated written and practical tests for the use of police organizations providing motorcycle training.
This undertaking by WWAMO has been endorsed by Gordon Graham, a 33 year veteran of California Law Enforcement, a practicing Attorney and a recognized leader in Risk Management. Mr. Graham is the President of Lexipol – a company designed to standardize policy, procedures and training in law enforcement operations. Gordon spent his first ten years in law enforcement as a motorcycle officer and is uniquely qualified to speak on police motorcycling practices. Mr. Graham acknowledges that a motorcycle program can provide a huge “benefit” to effective law enforcement operations in a given community if it adopts a “standardization of best practices” that can result in a substantial reduction in claims, settlements, verdicts, and injuries. “Proper management” includes a risk assessment on the need for such a unit, the proper selection of personnel to be in that program, the proper development of policy, the proper selection and maintenance of equipment, appropriate training – both initial and ongoing, performance and safety audits says Mr. Graham.
In pursuit of goal #1 WWAMO has created a survey that we are asking motor officers to complete. Officers are encouraged to visit: http://wwamo.com/wwamo-survey/ Motor Officers can click on the link for their respective state/province in the list and are asked to complete the short 9 question survey. The information obtained will help define who we as a community are, and help chart the future direction of police motorcycle training.
Please help improve the profession we all love and are blessed to be part of.
About the Author
Andy Norrie is an Inspector with the Toronto Police Service in Toronto, Canada. He has been a member of the Department for over 31 years and has over 29 years of experience in police motorcycle operations. He has authored several articles relating to police motorcycle operations and is a member of the World Wide Association on Motor Officer(WWAMO) Training Working Group. He has attended and participated in various police motorcycle training and competition events since 1991 and is one of the founders of the Great Lakes Police Motorcycle Training Seminar based in and around the province of Ontario, Canada.
