While the end of the year is when we reflect on events impacting law enforcement during the previous 12 months, it is also a time to look ahead at the challenges that face policing in 2018.

2. Use of Force
“I predict 2018 will contain a handful of viral UOF/OIS incidents
that will continue to drive more restrictive policy narrative than the
reasonable officer standard as defined by Graham v. Connor.
This fact may demonstrate that more restrictive changes made in
2017 – based upon the same type of viral incidents – are not the
answer.”
David Blake is a retired California peace officer and certified Ca-POST instructor in DT,
firearms, force options simulator and reality-based training. He is a certified Force Science
analyst and expert witness/consultant in human performance and use of force.
Distance and shielding equals time. Time equals low
stress and better decisions.

3. Police Technology
“Artificial intelligence applications will make it easier to analyze
and redact video from body-worn cameras, but administrative
obstacles at most agencies will deny access to this technology
for years to come.”
Tim Dees is a retired police officer and the former editor of two major law enforcement
websites who writes and consults on technology applications in criminal justice.
Leverage the technology you have to improve your
efficiency and effectiveness.

4. Police Grants
“Going into 2018, we are expecting a shift in program priorities, as well as a potential
change in the oversight agency roles. The proposed FY 2018 Commerce, Justice, Science
Appropriations Bill funds DOJ at $29 billion, an increase of $349 million above the fiscal
year 2017 enacted level. The Byrne Justice Assistance Grants are listed at $500 million, an
increase of $104 million. There is no mention of the traditional COPS grants (hiring, anti-
meth, development) instead programs formerly administered by the BJA appear as ‘COPS
Program.’ This includes some reentry programs, active shooter training, and initiatives to
improve police-community relations.”
Samantha Dorm has been instrumental in providing grant writing guidance to public safety
and non-profit agencies and helped agencies acquire over $30M of funding for various
programs.
Start early and confirm eligibility! The Department of Justice (DOJ) has already posted its FY18
Program Plan, along with the estimated release dates for request for proposals to be published.
This resource enables departments to begin to build their programs, collect statistical data, solidify
key partnerships and start the writing process ahead of the open period.

5. Police Funding
“I believe the greatest challenge, especially among leaders of agencies in large
metropolitan areas, has to do with funding and staff shortages in relation to pension
shortfalls. Leaders will be asked to do more with less; there will be less federal
funding and minimum staffing will be impacted. Reductions in salaries or high
percentage retirements will make the job less attractive to those seeking
employment in areas where the cost of living is high.”
James Dudley has more than 32 years of law enforcement experience, having served in the
patrol, investigations, homeland security, airport and administration bureaus of the San
Francisco Police Department. He served in each rank up to deputy chief.
Instead of trying to “rally the troops to do more for less,” police chiefs and sheriffs should ask other agencies and
departments to share responsibility for social issues such as homelessness, drug addiction and mental illness.
Those leaders should stand up to legislators who push out “unfunded mandates” that ask law enforcement to
take on more responsibilities without the funding to accomplish the required tasks.

6. SWAT Response
“The operational tempo for SWAT teams will increase. The widespread use of social media and cell
phone videos will result in more spontaneous anti-police protests. Some protestors – emboldened by
the political climate of the last few years – may pose a higher threat of violence. Mass casualty attacks
will also become more prevalent, from the violent extremist plowing through crowds to the psychopath
who perpetrated the Las Vegas shooting attack. These threats will prompt SWAT to respond more
rapidly to situations than ever before. Tactical teams will be activated for an active shooter threat that
previously only prompted a response from a two-man patrol element. It’s better to over-respond than
to under-respond.”
Rich Emberlin is a 30-year law enforcement veteran who served most notably with the Dallas
Police Department’s elite units, including Dallas SWAT and the Criminal Intelligence Unit. He
has appeared on shows including A&E Networks’ Live PD and Dallas SWAT.
Concentrate on the basics and sound tactics in the dynamic SWAT world. With so many operations, there’s a
tendency to move on to the next one without properly documenting the last one. Document EVERYTHING and
be thorough with your after-action review, from the suspect’s location and where distraction devices deployed to
property damage caused upon entry. Draw diagrams, take pictures, and include audio and video recordings. It’s
tedious, but if you don’t, the courts won’t recognize that it happened the way you said it happened.

7. Corrections
“As of today, a growing concern that will only increase in 2018 is
that of understaffed facilities. Understaffing leads to severe
limitations on the means and efforts that can be used to ensure a
safe and secured environment.”
For over 15 years, Anthony Gangi has worked in the correctional setting. He served on the
custody level and has moved through the ranks from line officer to supervisor. He is currently
the host of the Tier Talk podcast.
Correctional leaders need to push for cross-perspective training. As corrections evolves, management need to
give staff a more complete picture of the agency. Management needs to highlight the importance of teamwork
and how success and failure doesn’t happen in isolation. If the corrections field stresses the importance of
teamwork, inmates will have less chance to divide and conquer those who risk their lives for this profession.

8. Narcotics
“Synthetic drug use is going to continue to increase significantly. These drugs
include fentanyl, synthetic cathinones (bath salts) and synthetic cannabis. As the
rate of use of these drugs increases, so will the strain on public safety to deal with
this threat. Officers will continue to struggle dealing with the learning curve in
combating synthetic drugs as our law makers continue to create laws to ban new
drugs as they pop up.”
Keith is a retired police sergeant who worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for 29 years. He
has years of experience as a narcotics detective and a narcotics unit supervisor and is a Drug
Recognition Expert Instructor (IACP #3292).
Drug investigations are evolving rapidly. With new trafficking methods and drugs being sold online, it is important
to be knowledgeable. Whether you take courses online or through your state’s Narcotics Officer Association or
HIDTA, get as much education as you can. As you make drug arrests, ask every arrestee about drug use trends
they are seeing, as well as trafficking trends. Users can give you a lot of insight into their world.

9. Community Policing
“Police agencies will continue to utilize social media and specialty units to
engage communities, but these efforts still will not change the overall
narrative surrounding our profession in 2018. Despite this, law enforcement
officers around the country will continue to do their jobs with honor and
selfless service.”
Dr. Booker Hodges currently holds the rank of undersheriff for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s
Office in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Hodges is the only active police officer in the history of the
NAACP to serve as a branch president, a position he held for five years.
Continue to engage those in the communities you serve. We can change the overall
narrative about our profession by focusing on our individual interactions with those we
serve. We need to do this even when something bad happens within our communities.

10. Patrol
“Staffing will continue to be the top issue facing law enforcement in 2018. Until
administrators take a serious look at morale, peer support and forced overtime, the patrol
officer will continue to play a dangerous game. By extension, salary and improved personal
finances habits must be addressed, supported and encouraged at every level to help battle
against fatigue, complacency and burnout. We can't control society’s misperceptions of our
jobs, but we can certainly intentionally improve our quality of life.”
Jason Hoschouer is a law enforcement officer with an agency in the San Francisco Bay area
in California. Jason has been blogging under the pseudonym “Motorcop” at motorcopblog.com
since 2008.
Patrol is one of the most dangerous assignments in law enforcement. The best way to approach it
is by remaining focused on the job at hand. That means no personal distractions. Having healthy
personal relationships helps to take distractions off the officer's mind. Having one's financial house
in order also goes a long way to put the officer in a frame of mind where he/she can concentrate
fully on their job of patrolling when they are on-duty.

11. Threat Preparation
“Keeping in mind the deadly attacks in New York and Las Vegas, police
officers and agencies will shift once again to proactive policing as a way to
prevent horrific crimes like this from occurring. There will also be an uptick in
tactical skills training to prepare officers for the modern-day threats they
might face.”
Lt. Dan Marcou is an internationally-recognized, police trainer, who was a highly-decorated
police officer with 33 years of full-time law enforcement experience.
Every minute you are out there, pay attention. Get your head out
of your apps. Look up and look out. Train like your life depends
on it, because it does!

12. Police Leadership
“Police leadership will continue to focus on ways to better engage their perspective
communities with a special focus on reaching individuals and populations that are usually
difficult to reach. I think our challenge is less about gaining a better understanding of those
who either support or oppose what we do in law enforcement, but more about finding ways
to reach the overwhelming silent majority we do not often hear from to better gauge a true
perspective on where to focus our attention and resources.”
After retiring at the rank of Major with the City of Miami Police Department, Delrish L. Moss, a
32-year veteran of Miami’s force, was installed in May 2016 as chief of police for the City of
Ferguson, Missouri.
The vast majority of people have little contact with law enforcement and do not give their input to
us. Unfortunately, as the narrative about policing becomes more toxic, it is the silent majority that
holds the power to a shift and refocusing of the conversation. Once we can break down the
barriers that keep us from hearing from the silent, we can more clearly define America's true
expectations of law enforcement.

13. Gang Enforcement
“I predict that the current trend toward more lenient laws regarding gang enforcement will
continue. In 2017 we saw states like Oregon and California eliminate or restrict their use of
gang intelligence databases because special interest groups claimed them to be racially
biased. In California gang detectives are much more limited now in what they can discuss in
their gang expert testimonies. Laws targeting criminal gang activity have also been
weakened. The net result being, in 2018 and beyond, it will be harder for officers and
prosecutors to arrest and lock up violent gang offenders.”
Nick Perna is a detective sergeant in charge of the street crime suppression team with the
Redwood City Police Department in Northern California. He has spent much of his career as a
gang and narcotics investigator.
Gang investigators have to work harder than ever to combat gang crime. Attend seminars and classes
on current trends and new laws, even if it means going on your own time. Reach out to other gang
investigators to see how they do things. And get smart on social media. Criminals are very savvy on how
to communicate using it and are often one step ahead of us. If you're too much of a dinosaur to do it
yourself, get some of the younger officers in your department to do it for you (that's what I do).

14. Mental Health
Mental health for officers will become trendy and
get surface attention for PR value by some
administrators, much like community policing did.
Joel Shults retired as chief of police in Colorado. Over his 30-year career in uniformed law
enforcement and criminal justice education, he served in a variety of roles: academy
instructor, police chaplain, deputy coroner, investigator, community relations officer, college
professor and police chief.
Take personal and peer responsibility for your own
wellness.

15. Social Media
“In 2018 social media use by police will begin to normalize for many. We’ll
see a tremendous growth in the use of video both by police and by the
public to record police actions. More departments will decentralize their
social media strategy to allow more members to use social media to interact
with the public.”
Lauri Stevens has over 25 years of experience in media: social media, interactive media, web,
television, radio and high-tech market research. She is the creator of The SMILE (Social
Media the Internet and Law Enforcement) conference.
Be authentic. Talk to people and allow them to experience what
you do and to get to know the person behind the uniform.

16. Officer Safety
“As we move into 2018, police officers and agencies should be wary of the emerging technology trap
that threatens officer safety. Although tech provides many benefits, it also impacts officer safety. Be
conscious of how much time you spend head-down, focused on screen (in-car or handheld), as
situational awareness drops and reaction time increases. Deadly threats do not come out of the
computer or phone! Distracted driving is just as dangerous for officers as citizens. Officers rolling to
in-progress calls should not have to continually check in-car computers for updates. Dispatch should
provide voice info when officers are in response mode.”
Dale Stockton is a 32-year veteran of law enforcement, having worked in all areas of police
operations and investigations and retiring as a police captain from Carlsbad, California. He is
the executive director of Below 100.
Improve police officer safety by addressing areas under your control. Over the last 20 years, vehicle-related
losses have accounted for approximately 25% more police deaths than gunfire. Half of fatal police crashes are
single-vehicle, the speed as the primary collision factor. That same speed factor has also killed innocent citizens,
resulting in officers losing their jobs, and even going to prison. Just as troubling is that roughly half of police
officers choose not to wear seatbelts – the most basic of safety equipment – while on duty. Wear your seatbelt,
watch your speed and challenge others to do the same. The life you save may be your own!

17. Criminal Justice
“Reform hopes for body-worn camera video – transparency and objective evidence – will continue to
experience growing pains as police struggle with when to turn the cameras ON and OFF; when to
release the video; whether to let police officers view their body-worn camera video before answering
questions; whether to let other witnesses do the same. And government lawyers struggle with how to
explain why the officer didn't hear or see something on the video (auditory exclusion or tunnel vision)
and how people with different life experiences will watch the same video and perceive it differently.”
As a state and federal prosecutor, Val’s trial work was featured on ABC'S PRIMETIME LIVE,
Discovery Channel's Justice Files, in USA Today, The National Enquirer and REDBOOK. She
is an international law enforcement trainer and writer.
Technology will continue to push the boundaries of the Fourth Amendment’s “reasonable”
expectation of privacy. Facebook will begin capitalizing on its facial recognition technology by
sharing it with advertisers and letting Facebook users find each other from just a photo. Courts will
then evaluate what privacy expectations are reasonable in a shifting world of interconnectivity.

18. Police Training
“De-escalation will continue to be at the leading edge of police
officer training. Departments will need to show that officers have
been trained in the concepts and tactics. Departments will also
need to look at doing a better job of documenting police officers’
de-escalation attempts.”
In February 2014, Duane Wolfe retired from his career as a Minnesota Peace Officer after
more than 25 years of service. He is also a full-time instructor in the Law Enforcement
Program at Alexandria Technical College, Minnesota.
In order to show police departments are using de-escalation, we have to: 1. Identify what
de-escalation means; 2. Start recording it; 3. Look to see if the strategies and tactics are actually
working; 4. Determine what constitutes a success or failure of de-escalation; 5. Identify if it was
the officer or the subject who "failed" when the situation does not come to a "successful" ending.

19. Terrorism Response
“I predict we're going to see more criminal and terrorist attacks on citizens who have been disarmed
by misguided laws and policies that restrict or prohibit the public from carrying arms to defend
themselves. Highly restrictive “May-Issue” policies and “gun-free zones” will create attractive targets
for criminals and terrorists, and enable them to kill and injure innocents before police can respond. I
think more law enforcement leaders will recognize that we need to oppose these flawed schemes,
partner with the community, and help train responsible adults in the lawful and ethical use of force in
self-defense.”
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Mike Wood is an NRA Law Enforcement Division-certified Firearms
Instructor and the author of "Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis.”
If you're not carrying an individual first aid kit (IFAK) on your
person while on duty, fix that immediately!