March 2011 Issue

Caught between diminishing tax revenues and citizen demand for greater police protection, law enforcement leveraged the challenge onto the backs of its patrol personnel. By splitting two-officer units into separate cars, police agencies were able to effectively double the area of patrol coverage.

Advanced communications systems for tac teams now include throat mics, nearly invisible wireless earpieces, and everything in between.

Today, police have a wide variety of tools and munitions for exerting less-lethal force on individuals at greater and greater distances. Extended range less-lethal impact weapons have been refined to the point that they are both accurate and extremely effective when deployed correctly.

Night vision gear is still a lot more expensive than a flashlight, even though prices are falling and the gear is more portable and better-performing than ever before.

This year, the law enforcement section of the show wound through both floors of the Sands Expo Center and into numerous ballrooms in the Venetian Hotel. Exhibitors along the law enforcement aisles were showing everything from machine guns to mannequins, ranging in size from vehicles to lights the size of a stick of Dentyne gum.

What the heck happened to us? Cro-Magnons were big, athletic, and healthy until they died (mostly young), and had bigger brains than we do.

The Jeffrey Stenroos case is the law enforcement version of the "Boy Who Cried Wolf." And as every schoolchild knows, crying wolf when there isn't one is a good way to get eaten.

POLICE Magazine reviews the SureFire Muzzle Brake, Uncle Mike's Active Shooter Response Bag, and the Insight Technology M3X LED Weapon-Mounted Light.

The SR40's slide is machined from solid stainless steel, and it is the narrowest of any of its contemporaries. The slide also features very aggressive grasping grooves, making it easy to retract even with wet hands or when wearing gloves.

We search people in a variety of field situations and legal circumstances. As far as officer safety skills are concerned, I believe pat search techniques to be one of the most critical skills given too little emphasis in training, and therefore worthy of analysis.

Kentin Dion Brooks' life had spun out of control long before his car did. Pinellas County Sheriff's Sgt. Raymond Fleming's only misgiving about the tactics of the incident was the relative proximity of Brooks' vehicle to the deputies' cars at the terminus of the pursuit. But even this is understandable given the speeds and the officers' needs to react to its sudden conclusion.

As officers we ignore stress and drive on as if it were part of a crusade. Whether we choose to accept it or not, it's our responsibility as individuals to handle it. Most of us sleep very little, eat like crap, and continuously ride an emotionally and adrenaline-filled roller coaster.

When you take down a drug house, or enter a home to investigate domestic violence, or serve a search warrant at a residence, which of the multiple people that you sometimes encounter would have the legal standing to challenge the lawfulness of your entry and search?

Like all Brite-Strike products, the Flexaton BIL contains a strobing flashlight that can be used to distract and disorient a suspect. This is a safety feature that can provide an officer with enough time to get the upper hand in a confrontation.

At the site of a fatal crash, Officer Jimmy Jalil of the Boca Raton (Fla.) Police Department shot out a window to rescue a young woman from a burning vehicle