PoliceOne.com asked 19 law enforcement experts to share their predictions of the biggest issues police will face in 2019 and their top tips for how to navigate the path ahead.

2. Active Shooter Response
The active shooter trend will not abate in 2019. While attacks from garden-variety
crazies will certainly continue, it's possible we'll see an increase in politically
motivated attacks, as disaffected political groups continue their slide toward the
violent radicalism that plagued America from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s. My
hope for 2019 is that law enforcement leaders will take a more active role in
promoting training the responsible citizens in their communities in the lawful and
ethical use of force in self-defense.
Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Mike Wood is the son of a 30-year California Highway Patrolman and the
author of “Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis,” the highly-acclaimed study of the 1970 California
Highway Patrol gunfight in Newhall, California.
If you're not already carrying an individual first aid kit (IFAK) on your person while on duty,
fix that immediately. You can easily bleed out before you reach the kit in your patrol vehicle.

3. Communications Technology
2019 will usher in three major technologies – Next Generation 911 (NG911), Artificial Intelligence for 911
(AI911) and FirstNet. Implementation of NG911 infrastructure will allow emergency communications centers
to accept text, photos and videos from citizens. This rich data, which will be supplemented with robust
artificial intelligence search engines, will provide emergency call takers with more complete information
before dispatching first responders. A social media dashboard, integrated into the CAD system, will generate
mind-blowing possibilities. Even if only location accuracy is augmented for the caller with NG911 and AI, this
will be a significant improvement compared to the current capabilities of most emergency call centers.
FirstNet is being rapidly deployed to first responders, which will allow for quick and seamless transition of the
super-rich data collected by call takers to first responders in the field.
Eddie Reyes is director of the 911 center in Prince William County, Virginia. He retired from the
Alexandria Police Department with the rank of senior deputy chief after 25 years of service. He also
served as a project manager at the National Police Foundation.
An unintended consequence of this intelligent information will be that some call takers will find it challenging to witness
the images coming into call centers, which will create vacancies in 911 centers and require a major training shift in
order to replace those who depart and ensure that those being hired are capable of processing graphic information.

4. Crowd Control
Civil unrest will continue to be a challenge for law enforcement in
2019. Currently, most agencies do not address crowd control training
until they are found ill-prepared by a large disturbance. I predict that
more academies and agencies nationwide will begin to deliver training
to ensure every police officer is equipped to respond to civil unrest and
the challenges posed by today's professional rioters.
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. He is a co-author of “Street Survival
II.”
Team training should take place shortly before any anticipated event, and at least once a year.
The latter can be an opportunity to have officers clean and inspect their tactical equipment.

5. Digital Forensics
Law enforcement needs to prepare for the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT)
such as wearable technology, internet-connected home assistants and vehicle
infotainment systems. The growing reliance on digital evidence in both cybercrime and
conventional criminal investigations will necessitate that agencies re-evaluate how to
address the subsequent increased inventory of “virtual evidence” that must be preserved.
Police agencies need to be able to substantiate the authenticity of digital evidence, while
still providing access that offers verifiable accountability. This has the potential to become
a mounting financial and logistical challenge.
Major Christian Quinn is a 22-year veteran law enforcement officer and currently serves as the
commander of the Cyber & Forensic Bureau with the Fairfax County Police Department in Fairfax,
Virginia. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Cloud-based storage options may offer an affordable solution over investing in servers maintained on an agency’s
premises. However, departments must diligently consider various issues such as rules of evidence, cybersecurity and fiscal
sustainability before deciding what solution meets their needs now and in the future.

6. DNA Technology
Genetic genealogy will successfully be used to identify active serial
offenders in addition to solving cold cases. New forensic technology
advances, such as DNA methylation analysis and phenotype prediction
of novel physical traits, will assist with these identifications.
CeCe Moore is the lead genetic genealogist at Parabon NanoLabs, and an internationally recognized
DNA investigative expert, educator and pioneer in the field of genetic genealogy.
Don’t wait for a case to go cold before employing advanced DNA analysis.

7. Evidence-Based Policing
My hope is that evidence-based policing will enhance strategy, operational deployments, initiatives and policy
while being aware of policing’s inherent uncertainty. Unfortunately, we will continue to resist research and
data partly because U.S. policing is decentralized (18,000 individual police departments) and based mostly on
tradition, culture, politics, law, agency-specific values and public opinion. However, if we look deeply at our
roles in a democratic society and restructure reward systems that focus at times on deterrence/prevention
(where appropriate) and legitimacy, then we may align our actions to desired outcomes. The result might be
the institutionalization of evidence-based approaches to policing based partly on analyzing and assessing data
with the exponential growth of leveraged technology and more crime analysts.
Jason Potts is a lieutenant with the Vallejo (Calif.) Police Department, a NIJ LEADS scholar, an
American Society of Evidence-Based Policing (ASEBP) executive board member, a Police Foundation
Fellow and a reserve special agent with the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
If police leaders can build a receptivity to scientific research in policing, then we might understand the impact of
our responses by reviewing and using the best available evidence to inform, challenge and strategically inform
our long-term decisions, policies and practices, and place cops at times and locations of crime to make us more
effective in improving public safety.

8. Homeless Outreach
I predict that law enforcement agencies will push for more social
service involvement with their homeless populations, as most issues
facing these populations are best handled by those outside of law
enforcement. Communities across the country have already begun to
make this shift and I expect this to continue in 2019.
Dr. Booker Hodges has been a police officer for over 11 years and 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.
Engage your social service community and encourage them to respond to calls involving those who are
experiencing homelessness alongside your officers. By doing so you can start the process of getting people
the help they need from those who are best suited to provide assistance.

9. Media Relations
More law enforcement agencies will hire civilian PIOs. This concept has been trending upward for
approximately five years and it makes sense. Former journalists or candidates with communications
backgrounds make for strong storytellers, which is traditionally a skill set law enforcement has
lacked. This is not to say sworn PIOs can't do the job and do it well, but hiring media professionals
to do a media job makes sense. Having a PIO who knows how the media operates, what “sells” and
the ability to do it on a reporter's timeline generally generates positive press for the agency.
Julie Parker is a former TV news reporter in Washington, DC, turned media relations director for two
large suburban DC police departments, turned communications consultancy president.
The civilian PIO or lead spokesperson should be a direct report to the police chief of sheriff.
Barriers cause delays and there is little time for delay in today's split-second news cycle.

10. Mental Health Response
Local law enforcement agencies will be asked to assist federal law enforcement in
the handling of potential targeted mass violence subjects who suffer from mental
illness. These subjects often do not reach the threshold for prosecution and
diversion to mental health linkages is a more appropriate response.
Lieutenant Brian Bixler is a 22-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department and is in charge of
the Mental Evaluation Unit and Threat Management Unit. He is the LAPD's Mental Illness Project
Coordinator and is appointed to the Los Angeles County EMS Commission.
Local agencies should reach out to their local mental health authority to determine what
resources are available for these subjects. Federal agencies need to reach out to their local
agencies to learn about their law enforcement/mental health collaborations and develop a
system to refer subjects.

11. Officer Training
There will be continued training emphasis on responding to persons in crisis, the
mentally ill and impaired. Health and wellness programs will be adopted by more
agencies as part of officer survival. Technology will become increasingly
important to the delivery of training from use-of-force simulation that approaches
virtual reality to the development of on-demand learning modules that will enable
officers to call up training they need while working on a problem in the field
much as we might ask Alexa or Google for the weather forecast.
Harvey V. Hedden is ILEETA’s executive director, having previously served as deputy executive
director for six years. He served 38 years in law enforcement in ranks from patrolman to chief.
Body worn and other cameras are providing us with improved feedback on the effectiveness of training and increased
transparency for law enforcement. Trainers can be of value in educating the public, politicians and pundits of the
realities of use of force and other aspects of police work. Without this context we may be burdened with politically
motivated training/policy that will not increase safety for anyone.

12. Officer Wellness
Millennial officers will continue advocating for increased resources for emotional
wellness and a stigma-free culture in policing. While many administrators will see the
value, they will be challenged in successful implementation if they are resistant to seeking
out mental health services for themselves, having come up through the ranks when
counseling and psychiatric medications were viewed as only for the weak. As a result,
clinical depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD will go untreated in police officers and
suicides will remain the same or increase because continued stigma prevents cops from
seeking out services from a licensed mental health professional.
Officer Mike Wasilewski, LCSW, is a full-time police officer for a large Chicago suburban
department. Both Mike and his wife, Althea Olson, LCSW, are psychotherapists at Fox Bend
Counseling in Oswego, Illinois.
Make emotional wellness as important as tactical training. In order to be tactically strong, an officer needs to be emotionally
intelligent as well. Begin implementing a wellness check program where officers are able to see a licensed mental health
professional of their choosing in a completely confidential setting, three times a year. This will de-stigmatize the act of seeing a
counselor, provide a therapeutic outlet and foster a relationship with a professional before a crisis hits.

13. Operations
In the latter half of 2019, policing will begin to feel the effects of the coming global recession. This will be
exacerbated by the impact of climate change on policing in the form of increased flooding, hurricanes, fires
and drought, and flare ups of civil unrest in urban centers resulting from controversial police use-of-force
incidents gone viral via social media. This will begin a noticeable reduction in personnel in many policing
agencies and force the re-examination of basic service delivery models, civilianization, volunteers in policing
and regionalized or consolidated/contracted services. It will also accelerate the expansion of disruptive
technologies such as artificial intelligence, biometrics and drones in policing. These technological advances
and integration in policing will outstrip practitioner understanding of their consequences and
policy/legislation development, which will lead to increased tension in community-police relations.
Chief Jim Bueermann (ret.) began his policing career in 1978 with the Redlands (Calif.) Police
Department, retiring as chief in 2011. In 2012 he was appointed the President of the National Police
Foundation, America’s oldest non-partisan police research organization.
To prepare for an increasingly unstable operating environment, agencies should make an
organizational decision that focusing on the department’s future is a priority and take definitive
steps to operationalize and support the decision. Agencies should designate an organizational
champion to lead the “developing organizational foresight” initiative.

14. Opioid Response
We recognize that we cannot arrest our way out of the opioid epidemic. This has led to a
shift in police culture toward proactive non-arrest programs that prevent overdose
deaths, improve public safety and enhance trust between police and communities. Police
now have tools in their toolkit that enable them to create pathways to treatment and
recovery. As more departments join PAARI and see the benefits to their communities, my
prediction is that these non-arrest responses to the opioid epidemic will become a
widespread practice in many more police departments across the country.
Allie Hunter McDade is the executive director of the Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative
(PAARI), a movement of law enforcement agencies that believe in treatment over arrest.
As police officers, you have a front row seat to the opioid epidemic. You are problem solvers
and you got into this job to help people. Your community and your agency need a champion
to take action. I encourage you to be that champion. Get started and PAARI will be here to
help.

15. PTSD
In 2018, agencies continued to make significant progress in establishing programs and policies to
assist personnel recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the reality is that not all
officers will be able to recover. Individuals seeking PTSD-related workers’ compensation and/or a
disability pension continue to face many obstacles to obtaining such benefits. While some
individual states have attempted to reduce obstacles, the pace of change is far too slow. Law
enforcement agencies and administrators need to work with state legislators to improve access to
workers’ compensation and enact pension laws to help officers who are unable to recover from
non-visible, career-ending injuries.
Dr. Chuck Russo is the program director of criminal justice at American Military University. He
began his career in law enforcement in 1987 in central Florida and was involved all areas of patrol,
training, special operations and investigations before retiring in 2013.
It is important that agencies address the cognitive, emotional, physical and behavioral
symptoms associated with traumatic stress by implementing CISM interventions and peer-
support programs.

16. Recruitment & Retention
Hiring the right people is critical. Recruiters will focus more on
looking for candidates who display integrity, effective communication
skills, empathy for others and a spirit for public service. Creating a
culture where these traits are valued and rewarded will keep those
employees professionally fulfilled.
J. Thomas Manger has been a cop for 42 years, and served as the police chief in both Fairfax County,
Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland. For the past four years, he has been the president of the
Major Cities Chiefs Association.
Every encounter with the public is an opportunity to build trust, or harm trust. When the
public believes that they are being listened to, and that their police department is well
intended in their actions, trust is built.

17. School Safety
School safety will continue to be a major challenge for law enforcement and
educators in 2019. When we put police in schools, we must use a community-
based policing approach. If we put police in schools only to stop school shootings,
we are going to fail. If we put police in schools only to solve a gang problem, we
are going to fail. The number one goal of any police officer working in a school
must be to bridge the gap between law enforcement and youth. Achieving that
goal produces valuable intelligence that helps prevent active shooter situations.
Mo Canady is the executive director for the National Association of School Resource Officers, which
provides training for school resource officers.
Have at least one carefully selected, specially trained law enforcement officer in every school.

18. Social Media
A 2018 Pew Research survey concluded that 91 percent of U.S. adults use a
smartphone and 97 percent use the internet. As more people prefer to do their
business online through smartphones, police departments must begin to
understand the benefits of deploying a “mobile-first” strategy as it relates to their
ongoing use of social media platforms to communicate and should begin to shift
their social media and outreach efforts to provide a better customer service mobile
experience for their residents.
Captain Chris Hsiung from the Mountain View Police Department in California is an internationally
recognized speaker, trainer and blogger on law enforcement's use of social media to engage
communities and change the narrative about policing.
Think about everything residents can do or ask for when they walk into your police department
lobby. Would they be able to ask the same questions or request the same services through their
smartphone? If it's less, you disappoint. If more, they'll thank and praise you for it and you'll earn a
loyal follower.

19. SWAT
SWAT teams need to increase their focus on protecting communities from terrorist and homegrown
extremist attacks. As more cowards attack our citizens as they enjoy themselves socially, SWAT teams
need to step up and provide protection details. This level of regional, preventive cooperation may be
problematic at first. Teams will have to work with emergency management and fire rescue agencies to
develop a matrix to determine when these protection details are needed and what resources are to be
deployed. The impact on staffing, costs and equipment will necessitate teams work together to share
responsibilities. This may mean a neighboring team is on standby to assist if a call occurs while the home
team is providing security, or it could be a mutual response at the venue.
Lt. Matt Hardesty is a 26-year veteran of law enforcement who served 22 years on the SWAT team as
an operator, grenadier, rappel master and team leader and executive officer.
While many SWAT teams conduct great training, they often fail to seek training on terrorism
awareness and response. SWAT members need to understand current terrorist threats and
train team members on IED response.

20. Use of Force
Use of force in response to mass gatherings of individuals at protests,
political gatherings and concentrated population areas such as dealing
with the border caravan and homeless encampments with a focus on
de-escalation will continue to be a high-profile issue.
Attorney Mildred O'Linn is a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience defending law
enforcement. She is a former peace officer, FTO, defensive tactics instructor trainer,
academy manager and accreditation manager.
The ability of officers to recall, articulate and implement the training, procedures and policies that they have learned will be more
significant in the defense of officers' choices and actions. Remember: You only get one chance to tell your side of the story for the
first time. LEOs need to be better prepared to explain their understanding of laws, policy and training in support of their choices,
whether that is in a report, interview, deposition or courtroom.

21. Use of Force
Use of force in response to mass gatherings of individuals at protests,
political gatherings and concentrated population areas such as dealing
with the border caravan and homeless encampments with a focus on
de-escalation will continue to be a high-profile issue.
Attorney Mildred O'Linn is a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience defending law
enforcement. She is a former peace officer, FTO, defensive tactics instructor trainer, academy
manager and accreditation manager.
The ability of officers to recall, articulate and implement the training, procedures and policies that they have learned will be more
significant in the defense of officers' choices and actions. Remember: You only get one chance to tell your side of the story for the
first time. LEOs need to be better prepared to explain their understanding of laws, policy and training in support of their choices,
whether that is in a report, interview, deposition or courtroom.