Policing Matters

Police leaders have long embraced the idea that preventing crime is more effective than simply responding to it. Yet despite decades of emphasis on proactive policing, many officers find themselves spending most of their shifts answering calls, writing reports and moving from one incident to the next. Results from Police1's “What Cops Want in 2026” survey highlight the challenge, revealing widespread frustration with limited time for proactive work and the growing demands placed on patrol officers.

In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley spoke with Las Cruces (New Mexico) Police Chief Jeremy Story about the barriers preventing officers from engaging in proactive policing and what agencies can do to overcome them. Story discussed the role of evidence-based policing, crime analysis, technology and leadership accountability in helping departments shift from a purely reactive model toward one focused on crime prevention and community impact.

About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by Oracle. Today’s public safety professionals face new and evolving challenges every day. The expectations of the communities you serve have never been higher, and your duties have never been more complex. Oracle recognizes the importance of the work you do, and has set out to make a meaningful difference in how you deliver on your oath to service. Oracle’s unified public safety hardware and software suite provides first responders with the advanced tools to boost efficiency and enhance real-time situational awareness, which can help improve issue resolution. To learn more, visit oracle.com.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future concept in policing. Agencies are already using AI-assisted tools to analyze digital evidence, identify crime patterns, process body-worn camera footage and accelerate investigations that once took days or weeks to solve. But as adoption spreads, law enforcement leaders are also confronting major questions about transparency, policy, cybersecurity and the risks of overreliance on automation. In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with Fairfax County Police Major Brendan Hooke about where AI is delivering real operational value, where agencies need guardrails and why human oversight remains critical as policing enters a new technological era.

Hooke, commander of Fairfax County Police Department’s Cyber and Forensic Division, says AI’s biggest impact is helping investigators manage overwhelming volumes of digital evidence. From analyzing jail calls and surveillance video to identifying vehicles through distinctive features beyond license plates, AI tools are helping agencies surface critical leads faster while keeping investigators focused on higher-value work. He also discusses Fairfax County’s use of real-time crime center technology, AI-assisted report writing, predictive analytics and live translation tools, while emphasizing that AI should serve as a force multiplier — not a replacement for human judgment, investigative rigor or community trust.

About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by Oracle. Today’s public safety professionals face new and evolving challenges every day. The expectations of the communities you serve have never been higher, and your duties have never been more complex. Oracle recognizes the importance of the work you do, and has set out to make a meaningful difference in how you deliver on your oath to service. Oracle’s unified public safety hardware and software suite provides first responders with the advanced tools to boost efficiency and enhance real-time situational awareness, which can help improve issue resolution. To learn more, visit oracle.com.

As agencies prepare for protests, demonstrations and civil unrest, police leaders face mounting pressure to balance public safety, constitutional rights and officer protection under constant public scrutiny.

In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with Robert Sorensen, director of strategic partnerships and agency liaison for SoRite and a longtime less lethal instructor, about the evolving challenges surrounding chemical agents, crowd control tactics and public order policing. Their conversation explores training shortcomings, leadership decision-making, legal liability, decontamination practices and the growing debate over restricting less lethal tools.

About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by OfficerStore. Learn more about getting the gear you need at prices you can afford by visiting OfficerStore.com.

Leadership in law enforcement isn’t automatic — it’s learned, often the hard way. In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley sits down with Lt. Sean M. Carroll (ret.), author of “A.I.O. Leadership for Law Enforcement: The Proven System That Forges Legendary Leaders Who Adapt, Improvise, and Overcome,” to talk about what really happens when officers step into leadership roles — and why so many struggle early on.

From the jump from officer to sergeant — and the isolation that comes with it — Carroll breaks down the realities of leading in policing, including gaps in training, the importance of self-awareness and the shift from doing the job to developing others. The conversation focuses on what effective leaders do differently — and how agencies can better prepare them from the start.

About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by OfficerStore. Learn more about getting the gear you need at prices you can afford by visiting OfficerStore.com.

Drones have rapidly become one of the most transformative tools in public safety, giving agencies faster situational awareness, better documentation capabilities and new ways to respond to incidents. But as adoption grows, so does the complexity of managing the airspace above our communities. The same tools that support law enforcement can also be used for surveillance, disruption or worse. That shift is forcing agencies to rethink how they monitor, interpret and act on drone activity in real time.

In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with Melissa Swisher of SkySafe about what it takes to move from simply using drones to truly understanding the airspace. Swisher outlines how drone detection and airspace intelligence platforms help agencies identify authorized versus unauthorized activity, locate operators and integrate aerial data into the broader operational picture. The conversation also explores the growing challenge of securing large-scale events like the FIFA World Cup, where agencies must manage a mix of friendly, commercial and potentially hostile drones without disrupting operations or public confidence.

About our sponsor
SkySafe’s cloud-based drone detection and airspace intelligence platform gives law enforcement real-time visibility into what’s happening in their airspace. The platform turns complex drone data like launch point, flight path, altitude, payload capacity, and operator location into actionable intelligence officers can use to detect, analyze and act on drone activity in real-time. With advanced analytics and industry-leading drone forensics, SkySafe also enables agencies to turn drone data into prosecutable evidence. For more information, visit skysafe.io.