So this exists: Have you heard of Graphene ?

I'm unaware of it's use in law enforcement at this time ... but if you stay with me, and give researchers like 10 years or so, I predict you'll see Graphene in law enforcement. Let me try and explain why and how.

If you're like me when there's nothing specific to watch, the Science channel is typically a safe bet for some good "deep couch sitting." The channel introduced me to a material named Graphene. And really just looking at a photo is neat enough. So, what is it ? The site Graphenea.com explains it as a thin layer of carbon. (You know, the stuff most of known-life is made of.) And they aren't kidding by thin. It's literally one atom thick.

That's ONE ATOM thick ... that you can see. Take that in for a quick second.

And it's not as brittle as you might assume; one predicted use is the development in newspapers.

On top of that one demo online shows it cutting through ice "like butter." Since the atoms are arranged as they are, the natural vibrations of you touching a board of the stuff causes a chain reaction to the rest of them. Suddenly the entire piece is microscopically shaking ever so slightly creating a small amount of heat. Enough to melt ice at least. Ok, cool (a pun), but what does that have anything to do with law enforcement? Not really much right now.

Recently some researchers in Japan discovered a way for it to conduct electricity. The rub here is that it has to be super-cold, like 3 degrees Kelvin ... -269 degrees Celsius ... that's 452 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing. The initial idea is to use the material in electric wiring, nano technology, small electronics, etc. The potential for making computers better and even smaller than they already are - but I digress.

My prediction here is that if researchers discover a way to create Graphene conductive in a more normal temperature, with it's lightweight quality and flexibility we'll see this woven in tomorrow's clothing. Imagine putting on your shirt and jacket and having no wires to speak of. No hanging cords. Nothing to snag, nothing to wear out, no Bluetooth signals relying on batteries. We already live in a world where fibers intertwined ever so slightly and layered can stop bullets - think of what that sounded like before ballistic armor as we know it today was created.

Exciting, yes. WAY far off. Completely. But imagine the officer's patrol shirt running the small technology they'll have made by then. Body-cameras are getting smaller. Earpieces, microphones, and radios are getting better and better year over year. Body armor is even getting so floppy it's nearly a t-shirt. With bendable touchscreens, high tech contacts (you have to check this out too), it's anyone's guess as to what they'll come up next.

For tech-heads and dreamers, this is surly an exciting time.