Events

A Review of 1st Quarter Traffic-Related Fatality Statistics

April 9, 2026 | 2:00 PM

Join the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) for an important webinar about law enforcement traffic safety. This webinar will provide a complete breakdown of all the fatal law enforcement traffic related deaths in 2026 and review the comparative statistics between 2024 and 2025 numbers. Nick Breul, Senior Project Manager for Officer Safety and Wellness at the NLEOMF, will also share information and trends gleaned from studying open-source news reports of vehicle related law enforcement injuries and vehicle related incidents.  Guest presenter Kelly Couch, a retired detective and vehicle skills trainer from the San Francisco Bay area, will discuss the importance of training and practicing clearing intersections when responding to priority assignments. He will also offer information on vehicle sirens and their capabilities as part of a comprehensive vehicle skills training package.

SPEAKERS:

• Nick Breul, Senior Program Manager, OSW, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund
• Kelly Couch, Emergency Vehicle Operations Instructor, Retired Detective

Nick Breul

Nick Breul is a Senior Project Manager at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) and is the former Director of its Officer Safety, Wellness and Research Division, where his team did in-depth analysis of line of duty deaths, especially traffic-related causes. Before joining the NLEOMF, Breul was the Director of Security for the Washington National Cathedral, a post he held for two years. Prior to that, he served on the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, D.C. for 26 years. Breul worked in many capacities during his career on the police department; serving as a detective, patrol sergeant, homicide supervisor, and retired as a lieutenant, managing the department’s traffic safety branch. There he oversaw the Major Crash Investigative Unit, as well as all of the traffic focused enforcement and public safety education initiatives. Breul is a graduate of Hobart College, where he received a BA in History and still serves in the capacity of Departmental Historian for the MPD.

Kelly Couch

Kelly Couch is a retired Police Officer and Detective from the San Francisco Bay Area. After retiring, he relocated to Oregon where he worked full-time for the State of Oregon for nine years: three as an Investigator and the remaining six as a law enforcement trainer at the Oregon Public Safety Training Academy. In that position he served as a Patrol Tactics and Emergency Vehicle Operations Instructor training officers in various skills, including traffic stop tactics, building searches, investigative skills, emergency driving, and pursuit tactics. He spent most of his assignment serving as the Lead Instructor for Emergency Vehicle Operations. During his tenure in that position, he helped develop the driving curriculum, updating classroom presentations and driving exercises by adding more decision-based exercises alongside skills training. Kelly retired from his full-time position in 2022 to spend more time with his family but continues to work as a part-time Emergency Vehicle Operations Instructor.