Welcome to our first issue of 2026! Due to the vagaries of print publication, while you’re not reading this until mid-February, I’m actually typing it in mid-January — a week before heading to Las Vegas for SHOT Show. Hopefully, if you read this magazine, you also patronize our website (Officer.com) and saw all of our timely coverage from Range Day as well as bits and pieces throughout the show. Along with that coverage, there are always news stories, blogs, updated editorial and more on the site.
Our forums are huge and active with over 215,000 registered members, several thousand online there every day. There is information for employment, discussion about general law enforcement topics and more. Our membership there spans the variety of law enforcement professionals, from those who aren’t yet (but are in college or the military looking to start a career in law enforcement) to those who have spent decades in the profession and are now retired. You should check them out and see what you can gain or contribute.
In this issue of OFFICER, you’ll find articles related to Traffic Safety & Enforcement. I provided an article about the necessities and considerations of low-light training, which includes some info about weapon-mounted lights. Where low-light operations are concerned, never assume you “know the deal.” Nothing is quite as educational as force-on-force training in the dark. If there are deficiencies in your training or tactics, that’s the setting where you will discover them — and you might have a few bruises to remind you of the lessons for a few days.
We’ve got leadership advice from retired Chief of Police Bill Harvey, a cold case piece from Sgt. Brendan Rodela and a look at the 2025 LODD Report from the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund, written by Managing Editor Paul Peluso. In other words, we have another information-packed issue for you, and we hope you leverage all the information to support officer safety and awareness while you work the streets or lead your troops.
OFFICER Media Group, starting with our foundation of Law Enforcement Technology magazine way back in the 1970s, has been around for over 50 years now and our team has watched the evolution of the profession. We’ve learned from it and our Editorial Director lived it, serving behind a badge from 1982 through 2022. We provide our news and editorial to support you — the officers “on the front lines at home,” doing the job of keeping our communities safe. If you ever feel we falter from that, email me directly anytime and let me know at [email protected].
Stay safe.
