August 2025

Investigator analyzing biometric data using AI-driven forensic software, highlighting emerging technology in evidence processing.

Technology August 28, 2025

Forensic Breakthroughs: How AI Is Transforming Evidence Analysis

Carl Mazzanti After a deadly school shooting in November 2021 at Oxford High School in Oakland County, Michigan, AI tools were vital to the investigation and subsequent conviction of the shooter’s parents, who had provided their son with the weapon used in the crime. “It was clear to me very quickly that there was this mountain of evidence that may or may not be relevant on the phones that we were not finding…,” said Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. “…There’s…

Heavily equipped law enforcement officers in tactical gear and modern body armor standing in formation, representing advancements in ballistic protection and gear technology.

Technology August 25, 2025

2025 Innovations in Body Armor and Ballistic Materials

Jake Ganor What cutting-edge developments are shaping the future of ballistic protection for police? Last year’s article, “2024 Innovations in Body Armor and Ballistic Materials,” explored three intersecting storylines. First, it chronicled how UHMWPE (Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene) composites displaced aramid across vests, plates and helmets, measuring the jump from legacy SK76 fiber to Dyneema® SK99 “Force Multiplier” laminates and attendant weight cuts (e.g., Level  III plates falling from 3.3  pounds to 2.4  pounds). Second, it signaled Dyneema’s unnamed post‑SK99 fiber…

Cover page of a Bureau of Justice Statistics report detailing 2022 training topics and instructor data from state and local law enforcement academies in the U.S.

News August 20, 2025

New Report on Law Enforcement Training Academies

The BJS recently released State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies’ Training Topics and Instructors, 2022 – Statistical Tables. This report describes the number and types of basic training curricula of state and local law enforcement training academies in the United States in 2022. Findings in the report are based primarily on the 2022 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA), the fifth iteration of the data collection.  Conducted periodically since 2002, CLETA collects information from training academies which are…

Close-up of law enforcement officers holding smartphones displaying a life-detection app interface, part of new technology delivered by the Department of Homeland Security for locating hidden individuals.

News August 12, 2025

DHS S&T Delivers New Capability for Detecting Presence of Life to Law Enforcement

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has delivered the Detect Presence of Life (DepLife™) technology to industry partner MaXentric Technologies LLC. MaXentric will make this first responder solution available to law enforcement agencies across the United States. DepLife enables agents and officers to easily and safely identify whether any individuals are inside a room when direct line-of-sight is not an option. S&T funded the radar-based DepLife capability and developed it in collaboration with Fort Lee,…

Cover of the DEA’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment report, highlighting U.S. and global drug trafficking threats and enforcement priorities.

News August 4, 2025

2025 National Drug Threat Assessment

The US Drug Enforcement Administration recently released the 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA), the DEA’s comprehensive review of the threats posed to the United States by deadly illicit drugs and the violent domestic and international drug trafficking organizations responsible for producing and trafficking the drugs poisoning our communities. In addition to highlighting current trends and emerging threats, this year’s NDTA includes overviews of the cartels and criminal organizations which were designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated…