Ramesh Nyberg When Life Gives You Lemons, Ask for Salt and Tequila There I was, swooping down a blue marked ski slope, making gentle, almost majestic turns through the perfect layer of powder. The satisfying, crunchy swiisshh of our skis was music to our ears as Sgt. Luis Alvarez, my traveling partner, paralleled my serpentine trek down the mountain. We came to a ledge where I executed one of my better 90 degree sharp stops. I turned to Lou and…
The Preliminary Law Enforcement Investigation Checklist is intended to assist patrol and school resource officers in asking the appropriate questions to assess for imminent risk of harm and to identify factors which may require additional resources to assist students. The first part of the checklist consists of questions designed to establish Motive, Opportunity, Means, and Intent (MOM-I), and the second focuses on assessing whether the individual being questioned is experiencing life challenges which may increase the risk of self-harm or…
Local law enforcement agencies across the United States have hired School Resource Officers (SROs) nationwide to improve and preserve safety in schools, often using grants from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). This flyer outlines 13 principles to guide the COPS Office’s work relating to SROs and jurisdictions choosing to implement SRO programs. These principles should not limit communities in their consideration of the range of programs and interventions which can help improve safety on school campuses….
Technology has advanced to the point that automatic or autonomous vehicles – self-driving cars – are a meaningful possibility for the near future. Rather than waiting until a significant number of vehicles are operating without direct human control to assess the public safety implications of such a circumstance, this publication discusses the potential benefits and drawbacks of the increasing use of this type of technology and outlines the anticipated differences in the ways law enforcement will be called upon to…
James L. McClinton, Ph.D. That can’t look good on a résumé… The quarterbacks coach for the Cigarroa Toros football program in Laredo, Texas, was arrested after he called police to report that a prostitute had stolen money from him. When the coach tried to pay her, she allegedly grabbed $100 and ran away. The coach, who is also a health and physical education teacher at Cigarroa High School, faced a $2,500 bond for soliciting prostitution and was released later that…
Missing persons cases can consume a lot of police and other resources – more than is commonly realized. Moreover, in high-profile cases, police executives can feel a great deal of pressure to authorize those resources to maximize the chances of locating the person and to be seen as doing all that they can. Missing Persons (part of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series) describes the problem of missing persons, reviews risk factors and poses a series of questions to help…
Mike Boyle P&SN Presents Its 34th Annual Roundup Covering New Firearms and Equipment of Most Interest to Law Enforcement Beginning in 1979, the SHOT (Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) Show has served as the launching point for new products of interest to shooting enthusiasts and outdoorsmen alike. In recent years, there has been a tremendous spike in products specifically designed for the law enforcement market and this event now includes several dedicated rooms to a broad range of equipment and…
Ramesh Nyberg A Salute to the King No, not Elvis. The “king” I want to write about is a man named Joseph Wambaugh. As I sat down to start this column, I had two other ideas battling for first place as the topic for this issue, but then I saw a post about Wambaugh’s passing and I sat there reflecting on his work and how much it meant to me. I didn’t discover Wambaugh until my third year in law…
An FBI database established in 2021 to help prevent law enforcement suicides and increase awareness and understanding of the occurrences is now online. The Law Enforcement Suicide Data Collection (LESDC) was recently added to the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer platform, a dynamic online clearinghouse of FBI statistics and research. The collection displays the most current information about suicides and suicide attempts from participating law enforcement agencies. Data includes circumstances surrounding law enforcement suicides and suicide attempts, general locations, demographics, occupations, and the methods used….
Forensic data often remains archived in state and local labs which is only used to solve and prosecute individual crimes. Using a forensic intelligence approach instead, agencies can use datasets to link and track crime patterns, helping to solve, disrupt and prevent crime. The NIJ Forensic Intelligence Framework provides guidance for state and local law enforcement agencies and their forensic laboratories to develop or enhance a forensic intelligence program. The benefits of forensic intelligence practices include: Early identification and elimination…