Law Enforcement Officers Safety and Wellness: A Multi-Level Study, United States, 2017-2020 (ICPSR 37821)

Time Period(s) View help for Time Period(s)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

To assess law enforcement officer (LEO) safety and wellness and create a framework for trauma-based programs and enhance safety and wellness.

Sample View help for Sample

The sampling frame for the Officer Safety and Wellness (OSAW) Initiative was the 2017 National Database on Law Enforcement Agencies (NDLEA). In the first stage of sample selection, the researchers cleaned the law enforcement agency (LEA) sample frame. As sworn officer count is a critical variable in the sample selection process, the researchers imputed this variable where missing. For Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) agencies, the researchers imputed the missing sworn officer count as the median of the nationwide sworn officer to population served ratio. For all other agencies, the researchers used the median sworn officer to population served ratio for the particular region and agency type. Any agencies without law enforcement officer (LEO) duties or with a sworn officer count of zero were eliminated from the frame. All state agencies in the frame were set aside for certainty inclusion in the main sample. After removing the state agencies from the frame, the next 75 largest agencies (using sworn officer count as a size proxy) were included in the main sample with certainty. All remaining agencies were sorted by census region, LEA type, and number of sworn officers, and the remainder of the sample were selected using systematic sample selection. The reserve sample was set aside, again using systematic sample selection following a sort by census region, LEA type, and number of sworn officers. The researchers then flagged LEAs to be selected for rostering. The agencies selected for rostering were sampled systematically using a sort of census region, LEA type, and number of sworn officers. The reserve sample was also flagged for any necessary roster replacements. During the field period, in an effort to increase the number of LEAs represented in the OSAW project the research team decided in April 2018 to incorporate an additional 500 LEAs into the original sample. As rostered agencies responded to the LEA survey, the researchers implemented a system to sample officers from the roster. Once a roster is received, the researchers divided the roster into males and females (as specified by LEA). The researchers designed the officer selection process to sample officers from responding agencies according to the agency size. The officer selection program was set up to select the appropriate number of officers from each roster to achieve the desired officer sample size, while also oversampling females at a rate of 2:1.

Universe View help for Universe

1. Municipal, County, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and State Police/Highway, Patrol law enforcement agencies
2. Sworn full time officers from participating law enforcement agencies

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Agency data included demographics of law enforcement department, size, trainings required by recruits, recruiting strategy and requirements, services offered by the department, and recent events pertinent to that department. Officer data included demographics, mental health questions, physical health questions, substance use questions, etc.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

1. Law enforcement agencies: 57.7%
2. Law enforcement officers: 35.6%

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2022-06-16

Weight View help for Weight

The Law Enforcement Agency dataset includes a weight variable, FINALWEIGHT. The Law Enforcement Officer dataset also includes a weight variable, OFFICERWT.