Featured podcasts

Devallis Rutledge, author of POLICE Magazine's Point of Law articles, discusses why law enforcement officers should be aware of what public school officials can and can't do when conducting searches on campus. You can also read the original article "Public School Searches" from the October 2009 issue.

Devallis Rutledge, author of POLICE Magazine's Point of Law articles, discusses why officers need to be careful when using social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. You can also read the original article "The Whole World is Watching" from the September 2009 issue.

Devallis Rutledge, author of POLICE Magazine's Point of Law articles, discusses what officers need to know about how the Supreme Court's Kansas v. Ventris and Montejo v. Louisiana rulings have affected the way officers must conduct interrogations lawfully under the Sixth Amendment. You can also read the original articles "Sixth Amendment Revisited" from the July 2009 issue and "Sixth Amendment Waivers" from August 2009.

Leonard Levitt's "NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption In the Country's Greatest Police Force" is based in his experiences covering the department as a columnist for Newsday. In the book, Levitt examines the lines of power that often result in the city's police commissioner and mayor duking it out for "publicity, credit and power." Levitt covers the high and low points of the administrations of William Bratton, Howard Safir, Bernie Kerik and current commissioner Ray Kelly.

In "The First Responders: The Untold Story of the New York City Police Department and September 11, 2001," Anthea Appel weaves together the stories of members of the NYPD's Emergency Service Unit (ESU) who first arrived at Ground Zero. Appel, who was on patrol on 9/11 and has since retired after a 20-year NYPD career, recounts the ESU members who searched for terrorist "sleepers" and survivors. Appel also tells the story of the mysterious man who was arrested in the North Tower in the moments before it fell.

POLICE Magazine's associate editor Dean Scoville interviews Sgt. Dave Lawler of the Linn County (Ore.) Sheriff's Office who is the subject of our October "Shots Fired" article. On Feb. 16, 2008, Sgt. Lawler received a call about a deranged man standing in the street yelling at the passing cars and waving a shotgun. The man then moved to a gas station, where he took a hostage. Sgt. Lawler went to the gas station to stop the man's rampage and rescue the hostage. What resulted was a tense confrontation with multiple shots fired by both the officer and the gunman.

As state budgets tighten all across the country, more and more people are arguing for the early release of the "non-violent" offender. That begs the question just how non-violent are these folks? The answer won't shock police officers. The answer is that most "non-violent" offenders are actually quite violent. They may even have committed violent crimes and plea bargained down to non-violent charges. And even if they are truly non-violent, that doesn't mean they haven't committed serious crimes.

I have always been skeptical about "drug awareness" programs. But conversations with D.A.R.E. officers and their students during a 5.11 Tactical retreat in Montana have shown me the value of Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Anthony Batts will lead the Oakland (Calif.) PD into a new era, when he assumes the top job in October of a department that has been in the news in 2009. Batts spoke with POLICE Magazine about his plans to upgrade technology, improve patrol morale, and bring additional resources to a department that has announced budget cuts and is still grieving from the loss of four officers who were killed pursuing a desperate parolee in March. Batts arrives from Long Beach, Calif., a city with similar demographics, where crime fell in six of his seven years as chief.

In this cast, Lawrence Kane describes an effective technique for handcuffing an out-of-control suspect. The martial arts instructor and author of "Surviving Armed Assaults" also gives you one surefire thing to say to a belligerent person to help you gain control of the situation without needing to get physical. Kane's book has been praised by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman as an effective tool to gain greater awareness, defend against various weapons and manage the aftermath of violence.