February 2024

Starting a CyberCrime Unit: Key Considerations for Police Chiefs

This new report published by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) offers law enforcement executives key considerations for establishing a cybercrime unit, including scope, recruitment/staffing, interagency partnerships, training, and funding. This information is especially pertinent because nearly every crime has a digital component. As such, police leaders are under increased pressure to dedicate resources to combat cyber-enabled crime. Download to read the report.


Updated Standard for Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has issued an updated standard for ballistic-resistant body armor – NIJ Standard 0101.07 – tailored to the needs of law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies. Key updates include improved test methods for armor designed for women; more rigorous testing of soft armor panels; revised testing of hard armor plates, including curved plates; and references to ten standardized test methods, laboratory practices and terminology guides. Law enforcement agencies should expect to see body armor…


Traveling the Road of Higher Education

P&SN Staff Improving yourself, advancing your career, and boosting your confidence are all attainable through higher education. However, your first task is to identify the specific area of focus for your learning and pinpoint the schools which align best with your goals. Scholarly Degrees A two year associate degree program in law enforcement serves as a fundamental platform for basic instruction. Courses at this level are typically categorized by the school as 100 and 200 level courses. This degree is…


Rethinking the Police Response to Mental Health-related Calls – Promising Models

Published by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), this report addresses one of the most critical issues in policing today: the role of police officers in responding to calls for service involving people in mental or behavioral health crisis. This has been a serious challenge for policing for decades, ever since mental health institutions were closed. People were discharged without adequate provision of help to live in the community and many of them landed on the streets. This report, which…


New Language Access Program

The “Overcoming Language Barriers in Policing and Building an Effective Language Access Program” includes resources and tools developed by the US Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Language Access Initiative (LELAI) which can assist local and state law enforcement agencies in their efforts to provide meaningful language access to individuals with limited English proficiency within their jurisdiction. An initiative led by the Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section in partnership with US Attorneys’ offices, the resources review the legal obligation to provide language…


Improving Learning Outcomes in Police Academy Training

Published by the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), this report describes the results of the Academy Innovations project, a COPS Office supported initiative aimed at studying ways to improve the methodology for delivering basic police training content. Recruits’ ability to learn and retain material presented during and after basic police academy training is a genuine concern for academy directors,…


How Simulation Training Can Lead to Better Contact Outcomes

Ron LaPedis With a cell phone camera in everyone’s hands, an imperfect officer interaction can quickly become tonight’s 11 o’clock news. With many populations already set against any justifiable action which an officer takes, de-escalation is a critical skill. It can mean the difference between an ending where everyone goes home to their families or a potentially dangerous, or even deadly, outcome. How do you train an officer to temper his/her reaction when a suspect gets in his/her face? You…