Policing Matters

On April 15 (tax day) pro-Trump individuals wearing American Flags and “Make America Great Again” baseball hats held a rally in Berkeley, California. They had notified Berkeley Police in advance of their intention to rally. However, when anarchists clad in black masks and wielding various weapons showed up, officers from the Berkeley PD stood back and allowed the two sides to get involved in a prolonged violent confrontation. This is not what most police agencies would call crowd control. Jim and Doug talk about what should have happened but didn't.

Some of the most important U.S. Supreme Court cases for law enforcement are either misunderstood or entirely unknown by the average American citizen. Meanwhile, law enforcement officers are generally very much in tune with the cases which govern how officers’ actions — everything from use of force to search and seizure activities — are judged. In this podcast episode, Jim and Doug talk about a host of cases that cops know about and wish that the public did too.

We've seen a significant increase in news articles on PoliceOne about civilians coming to the aid of officers involved in violent confrontations with resistive subjects. Are there more of these incidents happening, or are they just getting more attention in the media? Jim and Doug offer thoughts on whether or not there’s an increase in such events.

Earlier this year, Kate’s Law was reintroduced to Congress, which is now controlled by Republicans. President Donald Trump has vowed that he will sign it. The law is named for Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old woman who was fatally shot by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, a Mexican national and convicted felon who had been deported but returned — illegally — to the United States. Steinle is not the only high-profile victim of crime committed by people here in the United States illegally — there are many other tragedies like hers. But how big an issue is criminal activity committed by illegal immigrants? Jim and Doug discuss the issue in detail.

Elections have consequences, and President Donald Trump's pick to serve as Attorney General and lead the Department of Justice may be one of the biggest consequences for American law enforcement. Put simply, Jeff Sessions represents “a new sheriff” at DOJ. It’s likely that Sessions will take resources that under Loretta Lynch — and Eric Holder before her — had been put toward initiatives related to things like same-sex marriage and gender identity, and reallocate those resources toward efforts on national security, terrorism, organized crime, and international gangs. Jim and Doug discuss other ways in which the DOJ will differ in the next four years from the DOJ of the previous administration.

For the past several years, interest in Evidence-Based Policing has skyrocketed. An extension of evidence-based medicine, this form of analytical research (using control groups and other scientific methodologies) has helped forward-thinking agencies to better understand the challenges they face, and the solutions that make the most sense to solve those problems. In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug welcome guests Renee Mitchell and Jason Potts, co-founders of the American Society of Evidence-Based Policing, to discuss what EBP actually is, and why line-level officers should not only care about it, but actively work to use it.

Kids have been abusing various substances for decades. Tobacco, marijuana, hashish, and cold medications top the list. Kids have been "huffing" inhalants (gasoline, ammonia, glue, and even spray paint) for years. Kids have gotten into heavier drugs like barbiturates, cocaine, meth, heroin, codeine, oxycodone, Vicodin, and a host of others. A new high popular with young people is pharmaceutical-strength Promethazine and Codeine. In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the dangers of "Purple Drank."

Back in September 2016, 11 SWAT cops were hospitalized after a flash-bang tossed into an alleged stash house kicked up powdered fentanyl and heroin. This deadly opioid poses real risks to police officers, as fentanyl can be compared to taking 500 to 1,000 codeine pills – or fifteen times more potent than heroin. In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug discuss what officers need to keep in mind with regard to handling fentanyl.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” Over the course of the last six weeks, Jim and Doug have discussed each of the six pillars. In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug each offer thoughts on what they would add as the seventh pillar.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the sixth and final pillar — Officer Wellness and Safety.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the fifth pillar — Training and Education — and next week will tackle the final pillar.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the fourth pillar — Community Policing and Crime Reduction — and in coming weeks will tackle each subsequent pillar in turn.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the third pillar — Technology and Social Media — and in coming weeks will tackle each subsequent pillar in turn.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the second pillar — Policy and Oversight — and in coming weeks will tackle each subsequent pillar in turn.

In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The president charged the task force with identifying best practices and offering recommendations on how policing practices can promote effective crime reduction while building public trust. The task force released its final report in May of 2015. In it was what the task force called the “Six Pillars of 21st Century Policing.” In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the first pillar — Building Trust and Legitimacy — and in coming weeks will tackle each subsequent pillar in turn.

One need look no further than the comments section beneath just about any article on PoliceOne to see the divide between the rank-and-file officers and the men and women who hold leadership positions at an agency. This divide has been around forever, of course, but the question becomes, is it getting better, or worse? The issue that may be the most contentious is use of force. Jim and Doug discuss what can be done to build stronger, more productive relationships between police leaders and beat cops. Can the National FOP and the IACP rally around an issue like officer safety in this time of increased attacks on police?

As we wind down 2016, we reflect on all of the events and trends which made headlines and shaped the national conversation about law enforcement. In this special end-of-year Policing Matters podcast, Jim and Doug discuss four things they identify as the biggest trends of the year: the increase in the number of opioid deaths (which now exceeds the number of homicide deaths), the number of peaceful protests which turned into violent riots this year, the trend of increased crime in cities where cops are pulling back from proactive policing, and the spike in ambush attacks on LE in 2016. As always, if you have topic suggestions for the podcast, email us at policingmatters@policeone.com.

Depending on whose data you cite, somewhere between 125 and 150 officers reportedly kill themselves annually. Conventional wisdom states that the holiday season presents an uptick in the yearly numbers. The CDC says that this is not the case, but regardless, we hope to prevent any suicide from occurring within the holidays. Jim and Doug discuss the need for officers to be vigilant about speech and behaviors that can be warning signs, as well as the various services available to people in crisis — such as Safe Call Now, Serve and Protect, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and 1st Help.

In an historic surprise victory, Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election. What can police officers expect from the White House after his inauguration on January 20, 2017? Having already telephoned the families of officers killed in the line of duty, one might rightly surmise that Trump will demonstrate more support for law enforcement than the outgoing Democrat whose two terms saw police and politicians pitted against each other. Jim and Doug discuss whether or not Executive Order 13688 — which prohibits certain military surplus from being donated to police — will be repealed, as well as various impacts a Trump presidency will likely have on the criminal justice system.

The 2016 election will surely be remembered most for the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but another potentially game-changing matter was on the ballot in nine states — marijuana legalization. Voters in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved recreational marijuana initiatives, joining the 25 states and the District of Columbia which already had laws allowing marijuana for either medical or recreational use. Jim and Doug discuss whether or not 2016 will be viewed in history as the tipping point in nationwide marijuana legalization.