Twenty-four and 450. No, these aren't new police communication or traffic violation codes.  These  numbers represent a new era for POLICE: the number of years our new executive editor has spent as a law enforcement officer and the number of articles he has written during his extensive career as a working street cop, writer, editor and police equipment manufacturer representative.

First, law enforcement experience:  Nearly five years as a reserve with the Chula Vista (Calif.) Police Department, followed by 20 years as a sworn officer with the San Diego Police Department. His assignments were wide-ranging and  included work in patrol, the traffic division, harbor unit and other specialty units, and a two-year stint with the public affairs unit. He spent his last two years on the department assigned to the Regional Training Academy as a training coordinator.

During his tenure on the San Diego P. D., in addition to being a longtime member of the Police Advisory Board, he began a writing career and has been published in a wide range of magazines, periodicals and books. Concentrating on the police sciences and firearms areas, he has published more than 450 articles and has garnered a series of awards for journalistic professionalism.

He even found the time to form a partnership in a retail police equipment store (though he eventually sold his interest), which still exists as one of the largest police equipment distributors in the nation.

After his retirement from the San Diego P. D., he accepted a position with a manufacturer of police duty equipment as its national law enforcement sales manager. Soon promoted to marketing manager, he was instrumental in the development of several new lines of law enforcement duty gear and has been at the forefront of building solid relationships with the law enforcement community.

His solid, real-world police force experience and first-hand knowledge of the police retail and manufacturing markets gives him a unique perspective on the needs of the law enforcement community. Just as importantly, his ability to focus on a problem or issue and then write about it with authority, humor and common sense has made him a popular speaker and consultant.

His name is Roy Huntington. I am fully confident that he will lead POLICE: the law enforcement magazine into its 25th year and help us to continue providing the highest quality product for all sworn law enforcement professionals.

We have a yearlong "celebration" of our anniversary planned, including a look back at some of the key issues the industry and the profession have faced in the past quarter century and a retrospective on some of our most popular  features. Stay tuned.

And as we close out another successful year, we look at our past - with a keen eye to the future - as we are reminded how fortunate we are to have you as readers. You have made it possible for us to reach this important milestone. Thank you for your past, continued and future support!

Happy Holidays from all of us at POLICE.

Leslie Pfeiffer Maris is the publisher of POLICE.