GUARDIANS OF THEIR OWN: ROUTINE ACTIVITIES, RISK PERCEPTIONS, & SELF-PROTECTION AMONG POLICE OFFICERS IN THE LINE OF DUTY

This research illuminated how police officers perceive risks in the line of duty and whether police officers implement protective behaviors on duty. This was done by implementing two phases of data collection: focus groups (I) and self-report surveys (II). The focus groups (N = 21) were conducted to inform the self-protective behaviors instrument in the self-report surveys (N =143). Officers self-reported their risk of assault and injury in the line of duty in the next six months to be 33.86% (SD = 27.13) and their risk of felonious death to be 14.4% (SD = 18.1). Results show that officers feel most at risk in one-officer vehicles alone, more likely to be injured by an offender’s personal weapons (hands, fists, feet), but killed by their firearm. Officers working patrol had a significant, positive relationship with assault/injury risk perception while female officers had a significant, positive relationship with felonious death risk perception. The results further show that not only are officers implementing self-protective behaviors in the line of duty, but, on average, they are implementing them anywhere from often to occasionally. The results found a significant, positive relationship between self-protective behavior implementation and PTSD symptomatology. Further, the results found a significant, negative relationship between self-protective behavior implementation and years of law enforcement experience. The results of this study provide further insight into police officers’ perceptions of their own risk of victimization, including in specific circumstances, based on the Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted data, and find that police officers are implementing self-protective behaviors to limit this risk.