By Dave Malone                                                               
At the MI FBINAA Annual Retrainer, Donald McGehee, Division Chief, Department of Attorney General Alcohol & Gambling Enforcement Division for the State of Michigan, gave a presentation on the growing menace of illegal gaming through the services of “Internet Sweepstakes Cafés.” He reports that several states have been fighting the legality of the pop-up casinos in North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Utah, Massachusetts, Ohio and now in Michigan. What is your state doing to fight this (often) illegal form of gambling?

By Leischen Stelter

What have we learned from the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which consisted of 11 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across India’s largest city? How can law enforcement agencies, first responders and cities be better prepared to respond to an incident of this scale?

Read more about how these questions were addressed by an esteemed panel during the 2012 International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in San Diego.

For 26 years, Terri Wilkin held a post as trooper for the Maryland State Police, and seven years ago she completed her Juris Doctorate, which led her to a career as a department prosecutor. We recently sat down with Wilkin to discuss her extensive educational background and unique career transitions.

By Terri Wilkin, JD
As a state trooper, I had preset beliefs about the criminal justice system and the individuals that I dealt with daily. I was very conservative and looked at issues as black and white with no middle ground. I did not have much sympathy for the individuals I brought to justice. Attending law school was an eye-opener for me. Law school makes students look at both sides of a situation. Students must delve deep into the circumstances and reasoning behind the law, the criminal justice system, politics and society. Read more about how this intensive process challenged (and changed) my views that seemed at one time to be set in stone.

By Tee Morris

Today marks the home theatre release of this summer’s highly anticipated and top grossing superhero epic, The Avengers. Following the runaway success of this ambitious film from Marvel Studios, experts put their heads together and seriously looked at the collateral damage and recovery costs from such a showdown between beings from another dimension and Earth’s mightiest superheroes. Experts estimate the property damage, economic recovery and cleanup totaling $160 billion when the dust finally settled. In light of this report, what steps could be taken to prepare for an attack of this magnitude?

By Leischen Stelter

When Deputy Chief Kim Derry (retired) of the Toronto Police Service was acting president of the FBINAA in 2010, he traveled around the world meeting with different FBINAA chapters. One of the issues that kept coming up, time and time again, was the issue of human trafficking and the tremendous growth and impact modern-day slavery was having around the world. On November 4-7, many of these international agencies and organizations will come together to discuss how to develop a central coordination center focusing on gathering and processing data and information about human trafficking.

As a law enforcement officer, it’s important to understand how social media works, how the general public uses it, and some of the dangers involved in some of the most popular social media features. In today’s “total transparency” world, it is expected that many police officers and public officials will have a presence in social media, too, so it’s even more critical to understand how these platforms work. 

This August was a tough month for law enforcement officers. In a report released today, August was the second deadliest month of the year, with 14 police officers killed in the line of duty. In total, 76 law officers have fallen in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 2012. However, 2012 is still on track to be the safest year for police in 60 years. What’s causing this shift?

By Scott Watson

Incidents of mass violence have gripped national headlines for the last several weeks. In a little over a month we’ve seen shootings at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, a house of worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington D.C. and now at the Empire State Building in New York City. In an election year, it seems especially pertinent to ask: Is the U.S. population mentally prepared to deal with the fact that a certain amount of mass violence is inevitable no matter who is in power?