Liposomal-Associated Phospholipase A 2 Is More Effective in Predicting Cardiac Risk in Law Enforcement Than Framingham Risk Score and Coronary Artery Calcium Score Calculation.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the methods for identifying officers at high risk for cardiac events. METHODS: This retrospective review included 3330 patient charts. Classic cardiovascular risk factors, coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores, and endothelial inflammatory biomarker levels were compared between civilians and law enforcement officers (LEOs). The Framingham Risk Score (FRS) was compared with risk assessment using inflammatory biomarkers. RESULTS: The FRS failed to identify more than 90% of LEOs at high risk of cardiovascular events. Similarly, the use of the CAC score was ineffective. Inflammatory biomarker analysis measuring the lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A 2 activity was the most reliable method for identifying LEOs at high risk of cardiovascular events. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the standard FRS and CAC scores is less effective than that of inflammatory biomarkers in identifying LEOs at high risk of cardiovascular events.

Incidence of law enforcement officer fatalities related to motor vehicle accidents.

A recent FBI report indicates that motor vehicle accidents (MVA) account for 71% of accidental law enforcement officer (LEO) fatalities. To better understand the factors surrounding these fatalities, a review of cases reported to the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) was conducted. A total of 738 MVA fatalities over ten years were included in this analysis. When comparing younger (<34 years) to older officers (≥ 35 years), there was a statistically significant difference with more younger officers reported to have been going at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident (p = 0.011) and were involved more often in single car accidents (p = 0.0207). The data also indicated a fatality rate of 5.4 fatalities per 100,000 officers annually; twice that of other professionals involving high speed operations. Even given the downward trend of MVA fatalities, policy changes and training to help reduce these number of fatalities is warranted.