Policing Matters

Managing police officers is a difficult task since the job is so multi-faceted and often fast-paced. We ask officers to do so many things, and in the process to be smart, thoughtful, judicious, efficient and thorough. Some people make assumptions that an officer has complete control over their environment. Of course, this is not true. Officers can be well trained, yet may be challenged in dealing...

Since the D.C. Council voted in 2020 to cut the police budget by $15 million, there has been a 28% increase in violent crime, a 55% increase in robberies, an 18% increase in carjackings and, as of 2021, the highest number of homicides in nearly two decades. On April 15, 2022, Salah Czapary published an  op-ed  in The Washington Post titled "No one asked for fewer DC police doing more work." Salah...

We are at a crossroads in policing. What are the long-term effects on law enforcement of defunding, COVID-19, the recruitment crisis, and public perception? What about AI? Technology? Less lethal weapons? How do all these things impact officer safety and morale? Wouldn’t it be great to get a glimpse into the future to give assurance to our veteran officers and their families to stay the course and...

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley sits down with Troy Anderson, the executive director of officer safety and wellness at NLEOMF to discuss officer safety trends nationwide. Each year, in preparation for Police1's coverage of National Police Week, we speak with someone from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF), the organization that built and continues to...

Sergeant Dalton Webb is a 17-year veteran of the Fort Worth Police Department and founder of Fort Worth's Real-Time Crime Center, which he began when he was an officer assigned to the intelligence section. Since then, the Fort Worth RTCC has grown into a 24/7 operation with 16 sworn officers and is the information and intelligence hub of the Fort Worth Police Department. Sergeant Webb is now a nat...

Relationships are difficult to maintain in the best of times. Add the stress of current times, including the economy and the pandemic, and you have a recipe for stressed-out relationships. And if one or both partners are in law enforcement presents a whole array of additional issues. Do law enforcement couples have a higher rate of divorce than the general public? Are there tried and true ways of...

Retired Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Jason Lehman's mission is to reduce violence between peace officers and community through education. In this episode of Policing Matters, he chats with host Jim Dudley about how education and effective communication can improve both officer and community safety. This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by the Master of Science in Law Enfor...

We are all leaders and we are all followers. Whether your police career plan is to stay on patrol or to promote to sergeant or above, there are daily practices you can adopt to improve your leadership skills. In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with retired Police Captain Andy Borrello on how to develop a toolkit of effective leadership traits.

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with retired Assistant Chief Jonni Redick , leader, mentor and author of The Survival Guide to Law Enforcement Promotional Preparation ,” about how officers can prepare for promotion and how law enforcement agencies can (and must) build leadership pipelines.  This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by the Master of Scien...

So many factors are involved before the use of force by a police officer. Officers are training in de-escalation and defensive tactics, and then there are the behaviors exhibited by the subject that officers must respond to. In the aftermath, the critics come out from internal and external review boards, the public, elected officials, the media and even other law officers. Certainly, some use-of-f...

It is no surprise that most respondents to Police1’s second annual State of the Industry survey indicated that communication is key to being a good supervisor. Along with that, the 2,376 respondents indicated that they want law enforcement leaders who: Care about their officers; Have technical knowledge of the job; Ensure equal distribution of workload among all their officers; Acknowledge the eff...

Ask any new cop what they want to be doing after they do their time in patrol. Some will say to go to narcotics, or K-9, or maybe to promote up the ranks. Chances are a lot will say they want to be a detective, but not just any kind of detective, they want to work homicide. However, is it really all it’s cracked up to be? This week's Policing Matters guest will answer that question and provide a g...

The benefits of higher education for law enforcement officers can include improving a better understanding of laws and policies, to becoming a better communicator, both verbally and on the written page, to becoming more socially aware from interaction with professors and peer students. The University of Virginia has long been linked to law enforcement practices through the association with the FBI...

The past few years have shed light on what may be described as “mission creep” in policing. Law enforcement officers have been asked to do an awful lot of duties that may have not been on the original job description of being a cop. Things like dealing with drug addiction and homeless issues certainly stretch the expertise of professional law enforcement personnel.  The "defund" movement may have...

Technology has had a huge impact on policing. We have automated record keeping, organized evidence facilities with RFID, enhanced forensics and crime labs with new science, and using virtual reality to enhance police training. Is the next wave of technology coming in the form of fleet improvements? Over the past few years, some law enforcement agencies have started to add electric vehicles (EVs) t...

The public has a high expectation that law enforcement officers should be able to see in the future and know what is going to happen on a call for service. We have seen new legislation that is based upon this presumption, especially in situations where force is used. How exactly are officers supposed to learn how to see into the future, much less through clothing and concealed areas to know if the...

We hear the term “evidence-based policing” tossed around a lot these days. Exactly what does it mean? Does it mean that the results of a program are deemed the decider in whether or not it is replicated and funded? Do we then package it up and institutionalize those evidence-based practices at law enforcement agencies across the country? In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley asks Dr...

Could part-time officers help solve the police recruitment crisis? That is the question Policing Matters host and Police1 columnist Jim Dudley recently debated with fellow columnist Joel Shults as part of their State Your Case column . The article elicited lots of reader responses, including one from Dr. Ross Wolf , who has over 30 years of experience as a full-time and reserve deputy and currentl...

Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and public health harms of pornography.  On this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley chats with Dr. Michael Shively, who is the senior advisor on research...

Law enforcement officers are often called on to provide counsel and comfort for people in need, colleagues and even their own friends and families. It is difficult for law officers to ask for help in return. Having a chaplain available for difficult times can be a blessing, whether it is with a religious affiliation or not. On this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley chats with Jared Alti...

On the annual year-end episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley is joined by fellow Police1 columnist, criminal justice professor and former law enforcement officer Janay Gasparini, Ph. D . During this special episode, Jim and Janay discuss some of the biggest issues law enforcement faced in 2021, including: COVID-19 vaccination mandates Women in policing Recruitment and retention Officer supp...

In this compendium of interviews from the FBINAA National Annual Training Conference , held in Orlando, Florida, July 7-10, Policing Matters host Jim Dudley speaks with: Former New York City Police Commissioner and former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, about the challenges of policing today; Bensalem Township Police Department's Director of Public Safety Fred Harran about his agency's use of Thermo Fish...

Crime in America is either rising, or is low, depending on where you get your news and information. One source that disseminates crime rates, statistics, reports and other information is CrimeinAmerica.net run by Leonard A. Sipes , a former police officer who worked his way through top positions within the justice system. Sipes retired in June 2016 as the Senior Public Affairs Specialist and Socia...

Long before we hit the wall with police officer recruitment , Sgt. Justin Collins, an 18-year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, co-founded Police Exam Career Prep (PECP) with the goal of mentoring and guiding a new generation of law enforcement officers.  In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley chats with Sgt. Collins about how PECP has been able to help more than 75 dedicat...

Across public safety, personnel work in conditions that range from boredom to sudden periods of extreme stress. In addition, it’s no secret that officers don’t get enough quality sleep or meals and work ungodly hours, as well as excessive overtime. But what are the lasting, long-term effects of these occupational hazards? In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Dr. John Vi...