Policing Matters

How Crisis Response Canines brings comfort to first responders and the communities they serve

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Policing is stressful business. It’s been described as hours of sheer boredom interrupted by minutes of sheer terror. Unfortunately, the moments of terror where officers see horrific trauma and witness death carry a heavy toll.

Over the past few years, we have seen some relief in the forms of behavioral science, peer support groups and even officer wellness apps like Cordico. Experiencing relief in a tangible way is also important and that may be achieved through comfort animals. In public safety, there is a great organization called “Crisis Response Canines” whose mission is to provide emotional support to individuals, families, communities and first responders in the aftermath of critical incidents using therapy dogs.

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with John Hunt, co-founder and COO of Crisis Response Canines. John is a 27-year veteran of the New Jersey State Police where he achieved the rank of major. John was the Homeland Security – Special Operations Section Commanding Officer. He also served as the Deputy Director of the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by Polco. Polco’s National Law Enforcement Survey provides a comprehensive, accurate and representative picture of resident opinions related to police services. Compare your results with other agencies around the nation. Align your priorities with community sentiment, build trust, and improve safety services. Visit info.polco.us to learn more.  

How commercial autonomous vehicles could transform roadway safety

Autonomous cars are no longer futuristic dreams, they are operating on America's roads today. Police have already been recorded stopping autonomous cars with people literally asleep at the wheel and at least once, without any live occupants on board. Autonomous commercial vehicles will also soon be operating, from passenger vehicles to large semi-trucks with huge payloads, potentially presenting many new issues for law enforcement. 

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Brett Fabbri, Head of Law Enforcement Policy and Roadway Safety for Kodiak Robotics, about law enforcement considerations regarding commercial autonomous vehicles and officer safety. Kodiak was founded by a group of self-driving industry veterans intent on bringing self-driving technology to the trucking industry. 

Assistant Chief Fabbri spent more than two decades working for the California Highway Patrol (CHP), most recently serving as the Assistant Division Commander for the Enforcement and Planning Division at CHP headquarters. In this role, he oversaw the Commercial Vehicle Section and Collision Investigation Unit of CHP, which is responsible for autonomous vehicle technology for heavy-duty, light-duty and passenger vehicles.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by Polco. Polco’s National Law Enforcement Survey provides a comprehensive, accurate and representative picture of resident opinions related to police services. Compare your results with other agencies around the nation. Align your priorities with community sentiment, build trust, and improve safety services. Visit info.polco.us to learn more.  

Rafael Mangual on the unintended consequences of criminal justice reform

Over the past few years, we have heard about the need to reform and/or overhaul the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, some of the unintended consequences of reforms put into action have included rising crime and homicide rates.

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Rafael Mangual, a senior fellow and head of research for the Policing and Public Safety Initiative at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at "City Journal," about his recently released book, “Criminal (In) Justice: What the Push for Decarceration and Depolicing Gets Wrong and Who It Hurts Most."

In his book, Rafael offers a more balanced understanding of American criminal justice, and cautions against discarding traditional crime control measures: “After a summer of violent protests in 2020 – sparked by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks – a dangerously false narrative gained mainstream acceptance: Criminal justice in the United States is overly punitive and racially oppressive. But, the harshest and loudest condemnations of incarceration, policing, and prosecution are often shallow and at odds with the available data. And the significant harms caused by this false narrative are borne by those who can least afford them: black and brown people who are disproportionally the victims of serious crimes.”

Click here for more information on "Criminal (In) Justice" and follow Rafael Mangual on Twitter.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by Polco. Polco’s National Law Enforcement Survey provides a comprehensive, accurate and representative picture of resident opinions related to police services. Compare your results with other agencies around the nation. Align your priorities with community sentiment, build trust, and improve safety services. Visit info.polco.us to learn more.  

Recruitment best practices from the largest state police agency in America

From reducing the time it takes for a candidate to go through the recruitment process to profiling the unique backgrounds of CHP officers, the nation's largest state police agency is taking a proactive approach to recruiting the next generation of cops.  

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Recruitment Officer Caleb Benefiel about the police recruitment best practices that are seeing success in the Golden State. Visit the CHP's recruitment website here.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by Polco. Polco’s National Law Enforcement Survey provides a comprehensive, accurate and representative picture of resident opinions related to police services. Compare your results with other agencies around the nation. Align your priorities with community sentiment, build trust, and improve safety services. Visit info.polco.us to learn more.  

Sheriff Don Barnes on how a School Mobile Assessment and Resource Team is averting violence

Statistically, school shootings are not a regular occurrence, but they are alarming tragedies that we all need to do our best to prevent. Is your agency collaborating with your school district to implement threat assessment programs?

Two decades ago, the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Southern California launched its School Mobile Assessment and Resource Team (SMART), a multi-discipline, threat assessment team that responds to incidents related to violence, threats of violence, possession and/or use of weapons, unstable behaviors, suicidal actions, or tendencies that pose a threat to others at K-12 schools. The team includes a mental health clinician to take part in the assessments and connect those students who need it with the appropriate resources. 

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes about the team, which handled nearly 300 threat assessments and calls for service during the 2021-2022 school year. In addition to addressing threats, SMART also works to ensure school staff has the training to recognize the signs of a threat. To date, approximately 480 administrators and school site personnel have received this training. 

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by L3Harris. Providing coverage that goes beyond the call of duty, L3 Harris provides ultra-reliable portables and mobiles that are designed by and for those on the front lines. Learn more at  Communications for Police and Law Enforcement | L3Harris™ Fast. Forward.

How teaching styles impact the success of today’s police recruits

Are we doing the best job in teaching the current era of law enforcement recruits? Should we change styles and methods of pedagogy to focus on techniques that resonate with Generation Z candidates?

These are some of the questions Policing Matters host Jim Dudley and his co-presenter Janay Gasparini, Ph.D., discussed at the recent National Association of Field Training Officers conference in Louisville, Kentucky. In this episode, Jim and Janay continue their discussion, addressing the types of instruction that can help recruits be successful both during the police academy and when undergoing field training with an agency.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by L3Harris. Providing coverage that goes beyond the call of duty, L3 Harris provides ultra-reliable portables and mobiles that are designed by and for those on the front lines. Learn more at  Communications for Police and Law Enforcement | L3Harris™ Fast. Forward.

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Prepping public safety leaders to respond to national security threats and catastrophic events

Everyone remembers where they were on September 11, 2001. In the aftermath, do you remember the urgency to strengthen our national defenses, plans and intelligence to prevent another such attack on our country, our infrastructure and our cyber systems? Are we doing that today?

For law enforcement, fire, EMS and military personnel, there is an excellent opportunity to share your expertise to contribute toward protecting our country and systems and obtain a free master’s degree in the process. The Center for Homeland Defense and Security programs at NPS focus on leadership development to transform how public safety officials view an increasingly complex world and homeland security mission. Through graduate- and executive-level coursework, seminars, and research, homeland security leaders gain the analytic and critical thinking skills and substantive expertise they need to create innovative solutions that address the threats facing the nation and local communities.

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with Heather Issvoran, Director of Strategic Communications, Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security​​​​​​​, about the programs offered by NPS. Also featured on the podcast is NPS alumni Michael Petrie, a former EMS chief, alumni and thesis advisor to the NPS program.

To learn more about the programs offered by The Naval Postgraduate School, visit https://www.chds.us/c/.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by L3Harris. Providing coverage that goes beyond the call of duty, L3 Harris provides ultra-reliable portables and mobiles that are designed by and for those on the front lines. Learn more at  Communications for Police and Law Enforcement | L3Harris™ Fast. Forward.

John S. Hollywood on RAND’s Mass Attacks Defense Toolkit

There is no national model of police response to active shooter and mass shooting incidents and sometimes we get a less-than-optimum response that invites criticism. It doesn’t help that the public has a dichotomy of expectations from law enforcement: rush in ready to shoot or de-escalate and negotiate, and some agencies are even folding up operations and leaving barricaded suspects if they pose no threat to the public.

A new toolkit, supported by a grant from the National Institute of Justice and developed by the RAND Corporation, provides practical strategies and guidance on deterring, mitigating and responding to mass attacks for a variety of audiences, including public safety experts, practitioners, policymakers, community groups and the public. Researchers studied 600 mass attack events and plots, interviewed dozens of experts and reviewed hundreds of references. The team then identified the Mass Attacks Defense Chain, a series of defenses that work together to reduce the probability of mass attacks and their impacts.

In this episode of Policing Matters, host Jim Dudley speaks with John S. Hollywood, senior operations researcher, Policing and Homeland Security Studies for the RAND Corporation, about the toolkit and the most important tips researchers identified to help reduce the likelihood of mass attacks.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by L3Harris. Providing coverage that goes beyond the call of duty, L3 Harris provides ultra-reliable portables and mobiles that are designed by and for those on the front lines. Learn more at  Communications for Police and Law Enforcement | L3Harris™ Fast. Forward.

Kathleen Dias on the threats facing rural officers in 2022

Policing is hard work, but when working in an urban environment, backup is usually relatively close by. Other resources like fire and EMS are only a few minutes away as well. 

 

In rural settings, things are very different. Back-up may be miles away – and we are talking country miles away – so too are other resources. Even a quick trip to book a prisoner or process evidence may take an hour or more.

 

Is it more dangerous to be a cop in a rural setting? Find out from today’s guest, Kathleen Dias, who is returning to Policing Matters to talk about her project looking at officers killed in the line of duty, with an emphasis on incidents specifically in rural settings.

 

Kathleen Dias writes features and news analysis on topics of concern to law enforcement professionals serving in rural and remote locations. She uses her background in writing, teaching and marketing to advocate for professional levels of training and equipment for rural officers, open channels of communication for isolated departments, and dispel myths about rural policing. Follow Kathleen’s The Rural Badge blog and on Facebook.

Dan Greene on the evolution of field training

"One of the biggest evolutions in field training is that the program molds to the student as adults learn in different ways," says Dan Greene, the executive director of the National Association of Field Training Officers (NAFTO). As a former FTO and FTO supervisor, Dan knows what FTOs need to become better trainers and educators. At the recent NAFTO conference in Louisville, Kentucky, Policing Matters host Jim Dudley spoke with Dan about the evolution of FTO training in law enforcement.

This episode of the Policing Matters Podcast is sponsored by the Master of Science in Law Enforcement & Public Safety Leadership Program at the University of San Diego. Learn how this nationally ranked online program can help you be a force for change at sandiego.edu/police1.