James L. McClinton, Ph.D. “Umm, it’s not mine. It’s his!”… Police in Springfield Township, Ohio, recently had an interesting experience during a traffic stop. Officers crossed paths with a “bandit” holding a meth pipe in its mouth during an arrest. The miscreant was not arrested because he is a raccoon. Officers had pulled over a vehicle whose owner had an active warrant and a suspended driver’s license. The driver, a 55-year-old Akron woman, was detained. But, when an officer walked…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
Larry E. Holtz, Esq. In Barnes v. Felix, 605 U.S. ___ (5/15/2025), the United States Supreme Court determined that, in assessing whether an officer acted reasonably in using force, a court may not simply consider the precise moment of the threat. According to the Court, the “moment-of-threat” rule improperly narrows the proper Fourth Amendment analysis. “To assess whether an officer acted reasonably in using force, a court must consider all the relevant circumstances, including facts and events leading up to…
P&SN Staff The ballistic protection industry has seen steady advancements over the past year, with new upgrades and design enhancements improving armor effectiveness. Here’s a look at some of the latest developments. Adept Armor Armorfoam is Adept Armor’s new protective material which is a self-bonded hybrid of ultralight Ivoryguard™ elastomer foam with high tenacity ballistic fibers. Weighing only 0.2 g/cc, these flexible pads are lightweight, yet deliver protection beyond what most foams can offer. A 10″ x 12″ ballistic trauma pad…
James L. McClinton, Ph.D. The budget cuts are starting to show… In Lone Tree, Colorado, a police officer was busy arresting a suspect in a theft when the perp decided he didn’t want to go to jail and first took off on foot before grabbing a nearby motorized scooter. Thinking fast on his feet, the police officer commandeered a kid’s bike to pick up on the chase, police said. “The suspect might’ve had a scooter, but [the police officer] had…
Larry J. Nichols As instructors, it’s important to understand the substantial differences in how males and females think and process information. Years ago, I was commissioned to instruct actress Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016) on how to handle and fire a Smith & Wesson® Model 15 revolver for a movie she would be starring in as a policewoman. Later, I also taught actress Lucy Liu how to handle and fire an H&K MP5 submachine gun for an action movie in which she…