On the evening of Saturday, August 8, Officer Sheena Yarbrough-Powell said goodnight to her husband of 10 months and reported for duty at the Beaumont, Texas, Police Department (BDP), where she and her partner, Officer Gabriel Falls, worked the fourth watch patrol.

At approximately 2:30 a.m., an 18-year-old was driving his 2006 Ford Mustang south in the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 59. His headlights were turned off. The BPD officers’ car was hit head-on; Officer Yarbrough-Powell was declared dead at the scene, and Officer Falls was seriously injured. The driver of the Mustang was injured but survived.

Officer Sheena Yarbrough-Powell was just 23 years old.

Sadly, this tragic event is far too familiar to too many people. Every year, more than 30,000 people die on U.S. roadways. Worldwide, 1.35 million people are killed each year due to fatal traffic incidents. Roadways are critical connections for commerce, convenience, and daily life. They can also be dangerous places when drivers engage in unsafe practices. When I was sworn in as IACP President, I identified global road safety as one of my key initiatives. Despite the unique and formidable challenges facing policing in 2020, it is critically important to maintain a focus on traffic safety. Well-developed strategies for the enforcement of traffic laws and thoughtful engagement of the public on this topic can contribute to improving transportation efficiency and the quality of life in our communities. The IACP continues to support domestic and international efforts to reduce death and injuries on the world’s roadways.

By working together and sharing ideas and strategies, we can achieve our collective goal of reducing deaths and injuries on our roadways.

Recently, the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety held in Stockholm, Sweden, which I attended along with Vince Hawkes, IACP’s director of global policing, culminated in the forward-looking “Stockholm Declaration,” which calls for a new global target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50 percent by 2030. In addition, it encourages strengthening efforts on activities for better road safety management; safer roads, vehicles, and people; and enhanced post-crash care. In addition, with the current multiyear Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety, IACP continues to improve road and traffic conditions of cities around the world, ultimately reducing fatalities and injuries.

This month, at the invitation of Director Phil Keith of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), I will be participating in a law enforcement roundtable on highway interdiction models and techniques. Through partnerships with the U.S. Department of Transportation, the IACP continues to do important work to help improve road safety. For over four decades, the Drug Recognition and Classification Program (DECP) program has trained thousands of officers in the identification and evaluation of impaired drivers. Currently, through funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the IACP is working with state and local agencies to establish Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) and Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) classes to help agencies get impaired drivers off the road. IACP’s Traffic Safety Initiatives project is focused on helping agencies improve responses to traffic incidents, develop high-visibility enforcement and engagement programs, and raise the awareness of the impact of traffic safety on the quality of life in our communities. Additionally, IACP’s Highway Safety Committee and the Division of State and Provincial Police continue to work on identifying issues and solutions that impact commerce, mobility, recreation, and safety on public roadways.

There is also another potential benefit of a comprehensive road safety plan. More often than not, a traffic stop is the first, and possibly the only, direct interaction the driving public has with a police officer. This encounter is likely to shape the driver’s opinion of police for many years to come. Each traffic stop should be seen as an opportunity for practicing community policing and developing relationships. These traffic stops are also an opportunity to explain the possible consequences of the violation and educate drivers on the importance of safe driving practices to keep them and others safe. Additionally, traffic stops are a chance to detect and prevent crime in our communities. We can point to thousands of traffic stops a day for minor violations that result in arrests for a variety of misdemeanor and felony crimes. Agencies that recognize traffic safety as a quality-of-life issue can create opportunities to engage the public and take positive steps to improve the overall safety of their communities.