Articles by publisher

The National Tactical Officers Association Announces

39th Annual Law Enforcement Operations Conference & Trade Show The National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) is proud to announce registration is now open for its 39th Annual Law Enforcement Operations Conference & Trade Show. The Wisconsin Center is the location for this six-day event featuring more than 100 seminars and incident debriefs that will provide high-quality training to help enhance tactics, leadership and professionalism. Hundreds of vendors will also present the latest in law enforcement technology at a two-day trade…


Officer Safety and Wellness Group Meeting Summary – Pandemic Policing

Published by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), this publication discusses the Officer Safety and Wellness Group which convened virtually in July 2021 to discuss law enforcement safety and wellness challenges during the global COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide civil unrest of summer 2020. The meetings focused on functioning with limited resources, dealing simultaneously with multiple critical events, and lessons learned with respect to mitigating future crises. A copy of the full publication can be downloaded at https://tinyurl.com/5f4px9pf


Active Shooter Preparation: Lessons Learned

Jon Becker The recent active shooter events in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX, have once again driven many departments to question their own ability to effectively respond to an active shooter incident. As agencies are considering these capabilities, they frequently find themselves at a crossroads between choosing equipment and building a program. Attempting to select the proper equipment, as well as determining a fielding methodology for this equipment and gear, can lead to confusion and frustration. In some cases, this…


New Toolkit for Preventing Mass Shootings and Other Attacks

NIJ-funded researchers created a toolkit to help reduce the likelihood of mass shootings and other public attacks, and reduce the casualties of completed attacks.    After studying 600 mass attack events and plots, interviewing dozens of experts and reviewing hundreds of references, the team identified the Mass Attacks Defense Chain, a series of defenses which work together to reduce the probability of mass attacks and their impacts. In this toolkit, researchers describe the most important tips they found to help…


New Resource Hub for Law Enforcement

On April 27, 2022, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab, a free training, technical assistance and resource hub for law enforcement designed to promote constitutional policing, improve public safety, and build trust in communities across the country. Agencies will be able to turn to the Knowledge Lab for free, voluntary resources, including research summaries, profiles of best practices, training curricula, and a roster of constitutional policing experts to support their needs. The…


New Digital Indoor Mapping Capability Now Available for First Responders

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) funded the development of a cloud-based capability which enables first responders to review and analyze indoor floor plans in real-time when responding to incidents. Mappedin Response was developed in collaboration with Mappedin Inc. of Waterloo, Ontario, and is available to first responders and local governments as a licensed cloud-based service.       “It has been a major challenge for first responders to quickly determine the layouts of structures, hindering them from…


Ballistic Armor Update: 2022

P&SN Staff The 29th Annual Report on the Latest Advances in Ballistic Armor Technology and Design As of the beginning of July, the NIJ’s revised ballistic-resistant body armor standard 0101.07 is still awaiting implementation. Announced back in 2018, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) had planned to release a revised version of the current ballistic-resistant body armor standard in late 2020. Implementation was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, unnamed industry sources state that the new standard will be…


Busted! Real Stories of Genuine Absurdity July/August 2022

James L. McClinton, Ph.D. This sounds “hisssssterical”… A 54-year-old woman from Vero Beach, Florida, was arrested after crashing into multiple vehicles and throwing a fake rubber snake at deputies. Investigators say the chase began when the suspect intentionally hit one of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office vehicles as she tried to evade a traffic stop. She led deputies on a 100 mph chase, hitting another patrol car and a civilian truck, injuring the three people inside. When deputies approached the…


…AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH July/August 2022

Ramesh NybergNot in Kansas Anymore This column is a first – I’m writing it from another country. I’m in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, nearly 10,000 nautical miles from Miami, staying at my in-laws’ house. To say things are “different” would be quite the understatement. It’s culture shock at every turn. I’ve had some remarkable experiences in just the first seven days I’ve been here, but, for this column, we’ll stick to the justice system, the traffic and policing of the…


What Are Predictors of School Violence? What Are Its Consequences?

Published by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), this report discusses the causes and consequences of school violence and how to improve strategies for protecting against school violence and its detrimental effects. The report offers one of the most comprehensive reviews of school violence research to date, helping identify several important implications for strategies to reduce school violence and suggestions for future research. It will also shed light on which factors are strongly or weakly associated with school violence which…