A look at what's ahead

For the first time ever (that we’re aware of), a law enforcement publishing firm will be providing a report on the results of a comprehensive survey. The survey itself didn’t focus on current or past conditions within the participating agencies, but instead focused on the expectations and reasonable predictions of action(s) of the participating agencies in the next budget year. Instead of having to be dependent on data that could be anywhere from three to five years old (or more), this report will provide the recipients information on the condition of the agencies, and therefore the industry that supports them, in the coming budget year.

Knowing that law enforcement executives all across the nation have to justify budget requests year after year, and that they do so largely based on information from previous years, SouthComm Law Enforcement Media recognized the need for an industry survey that projected need instead of guessed at it. This report provides the results from our comprehensive survey conducted September-October, 2016.

It is the intention of SouthComm Law Enforcement Media, through the publication of this report, to offer information to both the law enforcement (LE) community and the industry that supports it.

The SouthComm LE Media State of the Industry survey was sent out to approximately 50,000 email subscribers from our opt-in only qualified email list.  Of the email invitations for participation that were sent out, 459 recipients actively participated, and completed the entire survey. With a reported approximate 40,000 law enforcement agencies existent in North America, the 459 survey completions represent approximately 1.6% of the overall agencies. That is a high percentage of return and representation for such an in-depth and comprehensive survey; and data-mining the results to reveal all of the available information is time intensive. We are working diligently to correlate the data and structure it in an easy-to-use-for-reference format.

As law enforcement executive officers prepare their budget requests each year, it’s our intention that this document be viable to support the stated needs. Many LE executives have had to depend on information as much as three to five years old when attempting to justify increases in staffing, equipment, training and more. By publishing the results of our first annual survey, which reveals the needs and expectations of contemporary LE executives, other LE executives can leverage the information, properly cited to support their stated budget needs. The added benefit of receiving such information from a well-known and trusted source is that it can be so easily defended when questioned by those who have to approve budget requests.  When asked how a Chief knows there is a common need, or that a particular challenge is in focus nationwide, the Chief can cite the report by title, section, subsection and page. THAT is strength in research support.

For the industry that supports the LE community, the anticipated increases or decreases in expenditures are reported. Where agencies anticipate budget growth, HOW the LE executives will direct the increase in funding is revealed. Where agencies anticipate budget reductions, how the LE executives anticipate absorbing such losses is also revealed. The value of such information is obvious as it empowers both the buyer (the law enforcement agencies themselves) and the seller(s) to identify in advance what products will be most sought after.  It will also identify, by default, the products that are needed but not necessarily sufficiently funded.  That information can drive the proper grant applications and help to streamline the process so that dollars spent pursuing grants are not wasted.

The report is available now: Click Here 

Editorial Director Frank Borelli