The more observant of you may notice that this issue of POLICE looks a little different. In the magazine industry, this is called a redesign, and we’re really jazzed about our new look. Now, I know that some of you out there may be thinking, “Why’d they change it? I liked it just the way it was.”

I understand those feelings. You see, I hate change.

But change is inevitable. And change can be a good thing. After all, when I was a teenager I wore leisure suits. And believe me no one wants to go back to those days. Well, maybe the makers of polyester gabardine would like to see the leisure suit return, but hardly anybody else.

I could run down for you the changes in fonts and other cosmetic alterations that we are making to our look, but that would bore most of you to tears. Let’s just say that our art director LaMar Norman has combined new fonts and new design elements to create an up-to-date look for POLICE that we think will make the magazine more attractive to you, our readers.

Also, we wanted our redesign to be about more than just fonts and layout strategy. So in this issue we are debuting some new features.

First, you’re going to be seeing a lot more reader surveys in POLICE. Here’s why: We have an opportunity to provide accurate snapshots of the opinions of police officers in the United States and Canada, and we’re going to seize that opportunity. So much crap is written about you guys that we want to give you an opportunity to set the record straight on a number of subjects. These will include everything from controversial issues to what brand of OC spray you carry or boots you wear. And we think you will find the results fascinating. I can tell you that we do, and we really appreciate your responses to our questions.

You may also notice that we have renamed News Briefs and Briefing Room. Our Letters section is now called “Letters,” and the up front section, which used to be primarily news, is now called “Briefing Room.” This gives us some flexibility as to the nature of our news and features at the front of the magazine. In addition, we have added a new one-page feature, “First Look,” that will highlight a new and interesting law enforcement product.

Another new editorial project that we hope you will like is Joseph Petrocelli’s “Patrol Response to…” The author is a 20-year veteran of law enforcement, and he has some great tips and techniques to share with you.

Your extremely positive response to our “Shots Fired” articles, which detail the events of real officer-involved shootings, have led us to add another true police narrative to each issue. Debuting this month with the fascinating story of “The Moonberry Pond Murder” is our new investigations feature “Case Study.” Each month, contributing editor and retired Miami-Dade Homicide investigator Ramesh Nyberg will take you behind the scenes of a major case and detail how the detectives used real police work to solve it.

We have also added another review to complement Arsenal and Blades & Tools. Written by retired federal agent and cop Nick Jacobellis, our Eyes & Ears reviews will focus on eye gear, communications, weapon optics, hearing protection, surveillance optics, and any other gear we can think of that will fit the category.

Finally, we want to announce an addition to our staff. Dean Scoville, a long-time contributing editor, creator of “Shots Fired,” and a patrol supervisor and investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, is joining us as an associate editor. It’s great to have Dean playing a larger role in the magazine, and we know that he has a lot of great articles planned for you.

Thank you for reading POLICE. We look forward to hearing your comments about our new look and our new content. Believe me, the best issues of this magazine are yet to come.