The Most Dangerous Part of the Call May Be the Drive There

When law enforcement officers think about danger during an incident response, the focus is often on the crisis site itself — the suspect, the gunfire, the unknown interior environment.

But the statistics tell a different story.

73% of Officer Deaths Occur on the Exterior Approach to the Incident

According to analysis of officer fatalities responding to calls, approximately 

73% of officer deaths occur during the exterior approach or en route phase, while only about 27% occur once officers are on scene.

That means the greatest threat to officers often exists before they ever step out of the patrol vehicle.

This reality is critical in:

• Active Shooter / Mass Casualty Incidents
• Priority calls
• Emergency response driving
• Multi-unit convergences (“Blue Tsunami” effect)
• High-adrenaline responses
• 
  

Why the Exterior Approach Is So Dangerous

1. Speed + Adrenaline + Urgency

Officers responding to high-threat calls experience:

• Elevated heart rate
• Cognitive narrowing
• Auditory exclusion
• Increased risk-taking behavior

The psychological urgency to “get there now” can unintentionally override safe driving behavior.

2. Intersections Kill

Most serious crashes involving emergency vehicles occur:

• At intersections
• During red-light transitions
• Against traffic flow
• During overtaking maneuvers

Even with lights and sirens, civilian drivers:

• Freeze
• Panic brake
• Turn unexpectedly
• Fail to hear or locate the siren

The officer may be tactically prepared for the suspect — but not for the distracted civilian driver.

3. The “Blue Tsunami” Effect

During Active Shooter / MCI events, large numbers of officers converge rapidly from multiple jurisdictions.

Without disciplined staging and controlled ingress:

• Units self-deploy
• Vehicles stack up
• Routes become congested
• Officers arrive disorganized
• Additional responders become trapped

This creates a secondary hazard before the tactical operation even begins.

Operational Implications

“You Cannot Stop the Killing If You Never Arrive”

A patrol car collision:

• Removes officers from the fight
• Delays contact teams
• Delays rescue task forces
• Delays “Stop the Dying”
• Creates additional casualties and resource strain

One crash can immediately:

• Collapse manpower
• Block ingress/egress routes
• Overwhelm EMS resources
• Complicate command and control

Lessons for Training

Emergency Driving Is Tactical Training

Agencies often spend enormous time on:

• CQB
• Active shooter response
• Breaching
• Medical training

But the statistics suggest agencies must equally emphasize:

• Emergency vehicle operations
• Controlled response speeds
• Intersection discipline
• Route management
• Staging discipline
• Communication during convergence
• 
  

Command Considerations

Effective command can reduce exterior approach risk by:

• Establishing controlled ingress routes
• Limiting self-deployment
• Creating staging areas early
• Slowing unnecessary convergences
• Assigning sectors before arrival
• Maintaining traffic discipline

In many incidents, organized arrival is more valuable than rapid chaos.

Final Takeaway

The danger does not begin at the doorway of the crisis site.

For many officers, it begins the moment the vehicle starts moving.

The statistics reinforce a critical operational truth:

“Getting there safely is part of winning the incident.”

Because officers who crash en route:

• cannot stop the killing,
• cannot stop the dying,
• and cannot help the victims waiting inside.