By Michael Sale
While I spend a lot of my personal and professional time in the “present,” I also have a passion for looking back on where we have been. Yesterday, I received all kinds of news, from a variety of sources, about “bath salts” and what this new substance is doing to people across North America.
By Timothy Hardiman
Like most other organizations, police agencies are exploring the various uses, opportunities and dangers associated with social media. One aspect of social media that is of interest to law enforcement is using it as a tool while conducting investigations or developing intelligence. Criminals will post a surprising amount of useful and even incriminating information online.
By James McLaughlin
With the financial strains currently facing many city managers and mayors throughout the country, consolidation of services is a hot topic in town halls everywhere. Because fire and police departments are often two of the most expensive departments in the total budget, it is not surprising that the consolidation of the two makes sense to fiscal managers as a way to save money in the short term.
By Jeff Kuhn
Public safety agencies continue to grapple with challenges of effective succession planning brought on by the aging of baby-boomers, early retirements due to budgetary cutbacks, and lack of resources for adequate management training. The responsibility for preparing future leadership within these agencies is most commonly placed in the hands of police, fire and emergency management executives.
By Dave Malone
On March 20, 2011, the Fond du Lac Wisconsin Police Department was suddenly faced with an incident that led to the on-duty, fatal shooting of Officer Craig Birkholz, the near fatal wounding of Officer Ryan Williams, and the wounding of Officer Ryan’s Officer K-9. Unfortunately, this is a scenario far too common for many departments across the United States.
By Dave Malone
On March 20, 2011, the Fond du Lac Wisconsin Police Department was suddenly faced with an incident that led to the on-duty, fatal shooting of Officer Craig Birkholz, the near fatal wounding of Officer Ryan Williams, and the wounding of Officer Ryan’s Officer K-9. Unfortunately, this is a scenario far too common for many departments across the United States.
By Leischen Stelter
It feels like every day I read about another public safety consolidation effort. A story that made its way into my inbox today is about Bay City, Mich. city commission getting ready to discuss a plan to consolidate and cross-train police and firefighters.
Every municipality and public agency around the nation has had to deal with slashed budgets and a “do more with less” mentality in the past five years. Some have been hurt more than others. There was a great article today in The Washington Post about Vallejo, California and their impressive recovery from severe financial downfall.
Public safety agencies and its employees in California are breathing a little easier after Governor Jerry Brown announced that he had revised the state budget last week to protect funding for public safety (and education), according to this article.