News

Law Enforcement Solutions By the Field, For the Field: Collaborative Reform Fifth Annual Review

The Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center is a partnership between the COPS Office and many professional law enforcement organizations throughout the field to provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies on request. In its first five years, the center managed more than 900 requests for assistance from local, campus, county, tribal, and state agencies on critical issues like community engagement; active threat response; de-escalation; crime analysis; mass demonstrations; school and campus safety; and recruitment, hiring, and retention. This report…


Law Enforcement Deaths by Suicide

Published by the Center for Naval Analyses’ (CNA) Center for Justice Research and Innovation, this report includes data collected by First H.E.L.P. on law enforcement and correctional officer deaths by suicide. First H.E.L.P.’s efforts represent a notable stride toward comprehensively collecting reliable and valid data on the challenging issue of law enforcement deaths by suicide, marking one of the most extensive efforts undertaken in this area. This research brief presents analyses of the 1,287 deaths by suicide of law enforcement…


Hardwire Awarded Prestigious FBI Ballistic Shield Contracts

Hardwire LLC, a leading provider of advanced ballistic protection solutions, announced its recent contract awards from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the provision of high quality ballistic shields. Hardwire, in partnership with Bethel Industries, swept all four contracts awarded by the FBI for the ballistic shields, totaling $27,000,000 and affirming its position as the trusted partner for critical protective gear for federal law enforcement. The contracts began February 1, 2024, and April 1, 2024. These contracts are a…


Examining Financial Fraud Against Older Adults

Written by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), this article presents findings from a nationally representative sample of persons age 60 or older who experienced personal financial fraud. The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) Supplemental Fraud Survey (SFS) aims to address the need for nationally representative estimates of fraud, both reported and not reported to the police. In addition, the SFS reveals that the demographic profile of financial fraud victims age 60 or older differs from the profile of fraud…


The Best and Worst States to Be a Police Officer in 2024

With the median annual salary for a police officer reaching over $69,000, the personal finance Web site WalletHub recently released its report, “Best & Worst States to Be a Police Officer in 2024,” as well as expert commentary, to help identify where this career is the most worthwhile. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 30 key metrics. The data set ranges from the median income for law enforcement officers to police deaths per 1,000 officers…


Critical Incident Review: Active Shooter at Robb Elementary School

On Thursday, January 18, 2024, the Department of Justice, through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), released a report on its critical incident review of the law enforcement response to the tragic school shooting at Robb Elementary School. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the review shortly after the tragedy on May 24, 2022, in which 19 children and two teachers died at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The report provides a thorough description of the critical…


Considerations for Specialized Units: A Guide for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies to Ensure Appropriateness, Effectiveness, and Accountability

Throughout 2023, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the National Policing Institute (NPI) convened a series of meetings to discuss specialized units in state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies and create guidance for those agencies’ leadership to consider when forming, managing and disbanding such units. This report includes sections on identifying the need for a specialized unit; selecting the unit’s membership and leadership; managing the unit; establishing its policies, procedures, and end date; holding the unit…


2024 Law Enforcement Resource Guide

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the 2024 Law Enforcement Resource Guide for state, local, tribal, territorial, and campus law enforcement partners. This resource guide, updated annually, highlights the most up-to-date training and resources DHS provides to support law enforcement. Download a copy of the resource guide (PDF)


P&SN Welcomes Its 40th Year

Police and Security News (P&SN), the predominant magazine serving both law enforcement and Homeland Security, is celebrating its 40th anniversary, as part of the 2024 Buyer’s Information Guide (March/April). P&SN made its debut in late 1984, released alongside its two sister publications – Firefighter’s News and Rescue News. First published by Brewer Communications, Inc. from its offices in Barnegat, NJ, the inaugural edition included feature articles covering such topics as video surveillance, administering first aid, effective personnel utilization, as well…


Starting a CyberCrime Unit: Key Considerations for Police Chiefs

This new report published by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) offers law enforcement executives key considerations for establishing a cybercrime unit, including scope, recruitment/staffing, interagency partnerships, training, and funding. This information is especially pertinent because nearly every crime has a digital component. As such, police leaders are under increased pressure to dedicate resources to combat cyber-enabled crime. Download to read the report.