Conflict between police and their communities manifests itself in many ways. Perhaps the most profound type of conflict is one that involves physical violence between the police and members of the public. Such conflict causes distrust, strains police-community relations, and raises concerns about police legitimacy. Past research has extensively covered police use of force, including detailed case studies and the influence of various factors, including case law, administrative protocol, and the characteristics of the involved parties. However, research on violence against the police has been less prevalent. Even less prevalent has been research on one type of assault on the police, ambush attacks.

IACP, in partnership with CNA, sought to fill this void in research on ambushes of police and use the knowledge gained to inform policy, training, and operational practices in U.S. police departments. The project team reviewed existing research and literature on the topic, analyzed data sets of assaults on police officers, presented the research review and data analysis to a series of focus groups comprised of leading practitioners and academics specializing in officer safety, and produced and disseminated reports, guides, and other materials based on research, analysis, and focus group findings to the field. The project team produced and contributed to:

• The first comprehensive analysis of data on ambush attacks on the police
• A series of practitioner-focused, downloadable materials summarizing project findings
• Informative articles in IACP's Police Chief Magazine
• Policy guidelines for preventing and protecting against ambush attacks

This project is now inactive, but the resources can be downloaded on this webpage.