NCJ Number
252798
Date Published
July 2018
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This document presents the goals, features, challenges, and various resources of the federal VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Program (VALOR Program).
Abstract
The VALOR Program, which is administered by the U.S. Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), is an extensive officer safety and wellness program that includes both classroom and online training, strategic partnerships, in-depth research, and focused resources that law enforcement agencies can use to improve the safety of their officers and expand an agency's own officer safety programs. VALOR Program resources are offered to all U.S. law enforcement agencies at no cost. One of the VALOR Program objectives is to provide research-based publications, information, and training to officers and agencies that informs them about various threats to officer safety and health and encourages them to engage in critical thinking in their decisions about their safety and wellness. Another VALOR Program objective is to change officer behaviors that undermine their safety and health. This is done through training based in content and training techniques that provide the knowledge, encourage the attitudes, and promote the behaviors that facilitate improvement in officers' exposure and response to job-related physical and mental threats to an officer's life and healthy mental outlook. Also, by sharing real-life accounts of survivors in action, the VALOR Program exposes officers to model behaviors and attitudes of fellow-officers that promote their safety and well-being. This promotion of the VALOR Program also contains officer comments on how the training they received through the program has better prepared them physically and mentally to do their work. VALOR training information is provided, along with online access to the VALOR website.