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Personal body armor is standard- issue equipment in modern day law enforcement. Like most law enforcement equipment — from firearms to ammunition—before purchasing and utilizing body armor an agency should evaluate mission needs, identify an effective procurement strat...

One of the things I enjoy doing at both the IACP Annual Conference and at the NSSF’s Shot Show is looking at new equipment.  Each year we see improvements in technology that Colonel Norman Schwarzkopf could have never imagined when, in 1921, he was named the first Supe...

I have conducted numerous investigations during my law enforcement career that involved serious injury and death.  The investigation that I recall most vividly involved a propane gas explosion which resulted in the death of two people-- that one stayed with me for a lo...

I have a lot of memories of a 40-year-plus law enforcement career-- some are good, some are bad-- and some are of very uncomfortable moments.  I remember the camaraderie of my classmates and I, standing at attention outside of our barracks during a fire drill at the Ne...

Cops like stuff.  We are always looking for the newest, coolest, and most effective tools.  We’ve gone from control devices like the simple baton to the electronic taser, and from simple wheel guns to high capacity semi-automatic pistols. The sheer number of available...

Both my mother and father served in World War II. My father was a combat troop in the Philippines and my mother was a welder state-side at the New York Shipyard in Camden, New Jersey.  Nicknamed “Rosie the Riveters”, women like my mother built the ships destined to fig...

I recently came across my grandfather’s duty ammunition. To put this into perspective, my grandfather joined the Philadelphia Police Department in 1912 (badge #2474) and retired in 1947. I’m stating the obvious here, but this ammunition is old. It is a .38 caliber cart...

Not long ago a police officer’s equipment simply consisted of a revolver, stick, and a set of handcuffs--mostly because these items were familiar to officers, readily available and could be mastered with little training.  Although these items are still police inventory...

A police department’s ability to accomplish its public service mission relies on the effective procurement and management of equipment necessary to meet its established goals and objectives.  For instance: effective traffic control requires speed detection equipment, p...

Emergency planning should be a regular part of day-to-day operations so that when an emergency occurs a law enforcement organization is prepared to respond.  It is designed to prepare an organization for a major event with the potential to cause injury or death, destro...