Study: Law enforcement often doesn’t buckle up
By Jed Boal, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — “Click It or Ticket.” That’s the highway patrol campaign in many states that urges everyone to wear their seat belts or face a fine.
But a study by California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training estimates that roughly half of law enforcement officers don’t wear seat belts, while 86 percent of the public now buckle up.
Scot Stephenson, Utah’s director of Peace Officer Standards and Training, was surprised to hear that. He said he believes 80 percent to 85 percent of law enforcement officers in Utah buckle up on the job because that’s the way they train.
Stephenson said he can’t be certain that’s the way the officers behave after they finish training, but he said seat belt training is a major component of what they learn. Stephenson also said there’s been a nationwide movement to cut down on the number of law enforcement fatalities.
Funny to see this, at a party last night, we all had observed the incredibly poor driving habits of some of the local LEOs. Not paying attention, pulling out without looking, talking on the cell phone, ignoring traffic laws, etc. These are the same folks who can find everything wrong with your driving, but can’t seem to see their faults. They forget just how visible they are. Lucky timing for the article, Kae.
i recently did a ‘ride along’, and while buckling up was assured by the non buckled up officer not to worry because we rarely do ….