Welcome to the May/June issue of OFFICER Magazine. By the time you receive this, schools nationwide will have finished the school year, pools will be open, and summer in all its official glory will be underway. That also means lots of backyard BBQs, family gatherings, vacations, road trips and more. Something I’ve always been a proponent of and will recommend again briefly here is water survival training for all officers. God forbid, if you fall into a pool with all your uniform gear on, you will sink like a rock. Know how to quickly ditch what is weighing you down because water does not make good air and we don’t need to lose any officers this season in such a way.
This issue’s Special Section covers Less-Lethal, Riot Control, De-escalation and related topics and equipment. Along with a look at less-lethal tools for patrol officers, we have an article about the applicability of the 12-gauge pump shotgun as a dedicated less-lethal tool and a review of the new PepperBall TAC-PATROL launcher. You’ll also find an article about how Axon is revamping their training programs, a review of the ASP Plus Cuffs family, body armor from Point Blank and more. We also have two reviews of software systems, one leveraging real-time data from cameras and license plate recognition systems and another to help you manage and redact the video your agency captures from a plethora of sources. (As a hint, in the July/August issue our special section covers drones, body-worn cameras and video management systems, so there’s a handy link to keep in mind.)
You’ll also find a section, Honoring the Fallen, that we have in every issue. In this issue we have coverage from this year’s National Police Week with some images and information from the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washingtion, D.C., gleaned during that week in May. It is both humbling and inspiring as we remember and honor our brothers and sisters who have made the ultimate sacrifice and we make two pledges: 1) We pledge to support, in any way we can, their surviving family members, and 2) We pledge to learn any lessons we can from the events that robbed us of our Thin Blue Line family members. Review the Ten Deadly Errors and renew your oath not to become a name on the memorial walls.
If you haven’t already, check out our weekly podcast, The Lineup. Released each Friday morning, it’s a review of hot news law enforcement stories from the week with observations and commentary from our editorial team. Every episode is also available on our YouTube channel if you’d rather watch as well as listen.
Stay safe. Take care of each other. See you online or with the next issue.
