Articles

Traffic Safety and Enforcement: New Tools, Tech and Tactics in 2025

Stephenie Slahor, Ph.D. This year’s report highlights traffic safety challenges including rising pedestrian deaths and poor infrastructure, along with the GHSA urging better designs and stronger community involvement. The year 2020 saw a 40 year high in pedestrian fatalities. While, for the past two years, pedestrian deaths were down by about four percent overall, the situation still sees alarming upward trends in hit-and-run incidents, particularly at sites where sidewalks and/or night lighting are scant or nonexistent. The Governors Highway Safety…


Crime Reduction: Schenectady Police Unveil Game-changing Patrolfinder Results

Street-level crime is down significantly in Schenectady, NY, as officers implement the groundbreaking software tool, Patrolfinder, to improve patrol coverage. The Schenectady Police Department (SPD) and software firm Transfinder Corporation unveiled these results during their presentation at the Division of Criminal Justice Services Public Safety Symposium in September. During SPD’s presentation, Chief Eric Clifford and several officers noted that the patented solution, Patrolfinder, is already transforming how officers serve the community. The presentation, led by Chief Clifford and Transfinder CEO…


Safe Fentanyl Destruction: A Practical Guide for Police Professionals

John G. Stephenson Across the nation, the presence of fentanyl at crime scenes – and subsequently in evidence rooms – continues to grow month after month. Because fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance, it has to be disposed of in a way which is both safe and legally compliant. Seasoned officers and cleanup pros have already been dealing with the disposal side of the fentanyl crisis for some time which provides the opportunity to learn from their experience. If…


2025 Midyear Law Enforcement Fatalities Report Reveals Law Enforcement Deaths Have Decreased by More Than 50% Over Last Year  

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund releases the 2025 midyear fatalities report depicting firearms fatalities as the leading cause of law enforcement deaths so far this year.  The number of law enforcement professionals nationwide who died in the line of duty in the first half of 2025 decreased 53% compared to the same time period last year, according to preliminary data provided by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF). The NLEOMF data shows that 42 federal, state, county, municipal,…


New Police Cruisers, Trivia and Those Darn Recalls

Sergeant James Post Welcome to the latest installment of P&SN’s law enforcement vehicle review, aka cop car news. The last year certainly has been chaotic for the auto industry and whatever happens to the masses ultimately trickles downhill to the cruisers. The 2024 election brought changes to the EV market with good and bad news. Tariffs and the elimination of tax incentives for EV buyers (ending September 30) are a concern to many, but we’re enjoying lower gas prices, too….


Updated 2025 Law Enforcement Quick Reference Guides for All 50 States

Pocket reference guides provide law enforcement officials with up-to-date state election law information to help protect against violence, threats and intimidation. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections (CSSE) announced the release of its updated 2025 law enforcement quick reference guides in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. These pocket-sized resources are a collection of each state’s election security laws, providing officers and government officials with a convenient resource which helps them to protect election operations, voters and…


How AI and Training Safeguard Law Enforcement Against Ransomware

Carl Mazzanti Ransomware remains a persistent threat, but proactive prevention, continuous monitoring and tested response plans can keep your agency prepared. In 2024, ransomware continued to impact US local governments, with the average recovery cost for affected municipalities reaching $2.83 million. Nearly all attacks – 98 – resulted in data encryption, forcing many cities to adopt multifaceted recovery strategies, including both backup restoration and ransom payment. Ransomware is a type of malware which locks a victim’s data and the cybercriminals…


When Something Isn’t Right: A Patrol Officer’s Role in Identifying Child Abuse and Neglect

Michael T. Rayburn Abuse and neglect don’t discriminate. Whether it’s a family living on the streets or in a mansion on the hill, we’ve seen the signs in every corner of society. In this profession, we interact with people from every possible background: the most upstanding citizens; the most dangerous offenders; and, sometimes, those who are normally good people, but find themselves at their absolute worst. It’s part of the reality of law enforcement: We see humanity at every level….


Shotguns in the Squad Car: Still a Tactical Asset?

Mike Boyle For over 50 years, the shotgun was the dominant police shoulder weapon. After WWII, it reigned supreme, until recently, when the patrol rifle became more common, leading many to view the shotgun as obsolete. The move away from the traditional shotgun to a patrol rifle got me thinking about an old quote attributed to Mark Twain in which he stated, “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” Much of the same can be applied to the shotgun. I…


…AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

Ramesh Nyberg A Badge by Any Other Name: 60 Years of Law Enforcement Rebranding In September of 1982, I could not have been more excited in my young police career. I was leaving the North Miami Police Department, a 90 man agency in the north central part of a sprawling county, then known as “Dade County.” For those of you who enjoy history, the name came from Major Francis Langhorn Dade, an army commander who was killed during the mid-1800’s…