Patrol Issues
The Patrol Issues topic page offers news, commentary, analysis, and tactical tips that will help prepare police officers for life on the thin blue line.
AI tools like ChatGPT are reshaping law enforcement, but without clear policies, departments risk ethical, legal and operational missteps
To avoid being ticketed, the difficult driver will engage in a disjointed combination of negotiations, rebuttals, compliments and insults
Profanity may feel justified in the moment, but it damages officer credibility and community trust
The suspect stole two vehicles – carjacking one after entering a home – and crashed into LEOs’ vehicles
A young officer discusses the qualities of high-performance leadership, which were first demonstrated to him during the civil unrest in 2020
The man came into the store, grabbed a large knife from a shelf, and stabbed the boy and a 25-year-old woman
The police union is now calling on the department to ensure officers are equipped with all the lifesaving equipment they need – without spending their own money
How can a cop act from a place of wisdom and poise to be a true peace officer?
San Jose PD’s air support team tracked the sideshow from above and then boxed cars in with a large police presence on the ground, detaining hundreds of cars
The appellate court was critical of the officer’s decision to enter a suspect’s vehicle, which resulted in the shooting death of the driver and a second officer being struck twice by the vehicle
A study of Dutch police officers found that the officers who were able to watch their BWC footage of a training exercise wrote more accurate and complete reports
To better inform policies regarding the training and use of VNRs by law enforcement, emergency medicine doctors published their latest research
A suspect challenged the validity of the underlying arrest warrants, but the court held the officers had a good faith basis to rely on the information about the warrants
Talks first began in 2015 regarding the implementation of body cameras and in-car dashboard cameras at the Olympia Police Department
A recently arrested shoplifter gave detectives a tip to their main suspect: a convicted felon who wanted to sell the items for drugs
Deputies discovered the man was wanted in North Carolina for making threats against a sheriff’s office in 2021
Teens are breaking windows and starting Kia’s with a screwdriver and USB cable before showing them driving in the stolen car
Take the opportunity to understand this vulnerable community
How policy, training and tactics are evolving to address these volatile situations
The woman contacted a family member and said she had been taken against her will, but later informed police it was a hoax
The man was shooting off flares from a cargo container on the water before he began hurling the needles
Officers used spike strips to stop the drivers, but they circumvented the police measure, speeding through two counties before being apprehended
The suspect sped off as officers attempted to approach the vehicle, which led to an officer firing shots at the passenger side – narrowly missing another officer
The suspect had a $2 million warrant for murder out of San Bernardino Sheriff’s Office
The officers had recognized a black sedan as matching the description of a vehicle involved in a recent shooting
At one point, the suspect ran through a neighborhood, evading police before breaking into a home and stealing keys to a truck
Officers will collect breath samples from drivers suspected of being impaired by cannabis using the breathalyzer and then sending those samples to be processed
A six-month study says the most common problem investigators face is microphones not being turned on
Submit your organization’s officer safety and wellness programs for consideration
M.A.R.C.H. is a guide for early intervention and care for life-threatening bleeding, airway compromise and inadequate breathing
The man told officers he didn’t own any other clothes to replace those he had outgrown
The woman moved her car in the path of incoming gunfire to shield the already wounded cops; she then assisted one cop by pressing a towel to his wound to stop the bleeding
One officer was wounded and another fatally shot when the SWAT team’s plan to surprise and arrest a suspect failed
