Capturing Essential Data for Law Enforcement Training Standards and Wellness

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' LEMAS PATOW Survey aims to understand how agencies promote law enforcement officer health and wellbeing

As the primary statistical agency of the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is responsible for collecting objective, timely, and high-quality data from U.S. law enforcement agencies (LEAs) about their staffing and operations, which are critical for informing national conversations in this area. BJS’ primary LEA data collection platform is the Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies (CSLLEA). The CSLLEA is conducted every four years and BJS uses it to maintain a national registry of publicly funded LEAs that employ the equivalent of at least one full-time sworn officer. From this registry, samples are selected for other BJS LEA data collections, including the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) Core Survey, which collects detailed information from a sample of LEAs on topics such as staffing, operations, budget, policies, technology, and equipment—topics that have been covered since the survey’s inception in 1987. 

In addition to producing these longstanding, ongoing collections, BJS recognizes the need to conduct periodic data collections on more specific, timely topics that are also important to law enforcement practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. LEMAS Supplement data collections are one means by which these data are gathered. 

Purpose and Value of the LEMAS PATOW Survey

BJS, with support from RTI International, launched the LEMAS Post-Academy Training and Officer Wellness (PATOW) Survey in Fall 2023. This survey will obtain the first detailed, nationally representative information about resources that agencies make available for officer health and wellness, and features of post-academy training provided to officers. Both issues directly impact how law enforcement officers interact with their communities. Results from LEMAS PATOW can provide a better understanding of what agencies are currently doing, particularly in this time of reframing expectations around officer-community member interaction. 

Jurisdictions and agencies acknowledge that supporting and improving officer health and well-being is critical to ensuring that policing is effective and just. For example, the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing identified officer wellness as one of its six pillars of police reform, since better officer health and well-being may not only improve the officer’s work experience but has impacts far beyond an individual officer’s health to include their family, co-workers, and the communities they serve. Data collected through LEMAS PATOW will delineate the types of formal wellness programs agencies offer, such as stress management, family support, and mental healthcare. This information will allow practitioners and policymakers to make informed decisions about resources and funding to support officers. 

Law enforcement officers participate in a wide variety of post-academy training opportunities to meet diverse state and agency certification and continuing education objectives. Results from LEMAS PATOW will provide a national view of the scope of training topics that agencies provide to their officers, such as use of force continuum, de-escalation, procedural justice, and operations/tactics, which are frequently discussed as ways to reduce use of force incidents and improve police-community interactions. Data will also be collected as to whether this training is optional or mandatory and how it is administered. 

LEMAS PATOW Survey Methodology and Timeline

RTI survey methodologists and criminal justice experts worked with BJS to develop questionnaire content assessing post-academy training and officer wellness practices. An expert panel was conducted, and a questionnaire was cognitively tested prior to fielding the survey. 

A stratified, random sample of 3,500 agencies was selected from BJS’s law enforcement agency registry to receive the survey request. The data collection period will run approximately 8 months and BJS will publish results at bjs.ojp.gov in 2025. 

Learn more about how RTI supports police officers' health and well-being.