According to CBS News, Michigan’s budget nightmare has resulted in the nation’s largest percentage drop in police employees over the past decade.  The impact has been apparent in everything from gutted police stations to lower arrest totals and a feeling among many residents that they’re on their own as far as protecting themselves and their families.

After countless incidents where police officers’ social media postings have reflected negatively on the agencies they work for, it’s become commonplace for employers to ask for Facebook passwords as a condition of employment. It turns out that this may be illegal.

It’s a sick world and laughter is the best medicine. But for a lot of us, finding a book, movie or stand up comedian that can deliver the goods is getting harder and harder.
Hollywood isn’t exactly interested in making multi-layered comedies these days. When I was a younger man, films like Stripes, Animal House, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein were everywhere. What the hell happened?

In Massachusetts, 13,000 police officers will soon be carrying a standardized identification card — replacing a hodgepodge of old IDs issued to cops in different agencies. The secure ID card program is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

Back in the old days discussions about public safety generally revolved around crime rates, criminal justice policies and the safety of the public. These days most of the discussions about law enforcement, at least at the bureaucratic level, are dominated by one issue —money. Recently in Indianapolis City Councilor Duke Oliver (D) listened to about five hours worth of testimony about a projected deficit of nearly $32 million dollars for the Indianapolis PD and the Sheriff’s Dept. who combined into one agency several years ago.

Former LAPD Det.-Sgt. Joseph Wambaugh is universally recognized as the creator of the modern police novel. And  Joe Wambaugh is out with another outstanding new book — Harbor Nocturne — a hard-hitting, politically incorrect tale of crime and corruption in Los Angeles.

One of the big problems for law enforcement when states pass laws like Arizona’s SB-1070 or Georgia’s SB5 is that the real world questions about how they impact law enforcement go unanswered. With that in mind, four influential groups in Mississippi say that they are opposing an immigration enforcement bill because of what they see as unanswered questions about how it would affect the police and local government.

Every time I read about a police officer’s death my throat tightens and my eyes water. It is an involuntary reaction. As a news guy for more than a decade I have seen death and destruction that most people don’t and wouldn’t want to see. I can keep it together and be professional in my reporting through nearly all of it.
Still a cop’s death touches the little boy deep inside me who will never be able to face the fragility of his own father’s life. You see, my dad is a cop.

In Memphis, Fox 13 news recently reported that there's a copy of the radio broadcast that captured an on-duty cop allegedly having sex in his police vehicle. According to FOX, Sergeant Karen Rudolph says every Memphis Police Officer has two ways to communicate — a shoulder microphone and a console mic in the cruiser.

In an article from the Houston Chronicle that some might need to read twice in order to believe it, Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia has trained the first of what he expects will be hundreds of private security guards who have signed up to “help” deputies apprehend dangerous fugitives, work crime scenes and a wide array of other tasks normally performed by certified cops.