We have one on skype. Well start with chief zachery, the Public Safety director woodway, texas, and immediate past president of the International Association of chiefs of police. Yost, good to have you. Thank you, sir. Thanks for inviting me to testify today. My name is yost zachery, immediate past president of the im sorry i wasnt able to join you in person today. I intended to but my flights were canceled. I began Law Enforcement dispatcher woodway in 1979 and im still there today and currently serve as a chief and a director of the Public Safety department. One of my main duties as a chief is to ensure safety and wellbeing of my officers is there. This means making sure they have the proper training and equipment they need to do their job safely so they can return home each and every day to their loved one. During my time as president iecp, officer safety and wellness was one of my top priorities. Its always been a top priority of iecp. It is the position of that organization that n
Im proud to be a part of. Its jointly under the auspices of the cops office and the bureau of justice assistance. This is done tremendous good in training more than 15,000 officers across this country. Finally, hes increased the federal grant money thats gone to groups like ours and others who are focused on officer safety and wellness. Those are just some great examples of the leadership hes provided. I dont think its any coincidence that as a result of all of those efforts, the last two years now, weve seen fewer Law Enforcement fatalities than any year for the last 50. Thats a great credit to leadership and to this group and so many others focused on this issue. A lot more work clearly needs to be done. I look at canada as a great role model for us here in the United States. Ive attended their memorial service, two out of the last three years. Two years ago, they honored all the officers in canada who had been killed in the line of duty. One officer during a 12month period killed in