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Prior to a disaster, public safety officials try to equip residents with the proper information and resources to survive catastrophe. Some communities are cultivating a volunteer-driven response by training citizens how to act during an emergency. These initiatives-such as the Citizen Preparedness Corps in New York, Operation Rescue Ready in Virginia and FEMA's Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)-are intended to help communities withstand the interim between disaster and the arrival of first responders.

The introduction of the iPhone, and with it the smartphone revolution in 2007, has been both a boon and a bane for law enforcement. While apps and constant connectivity have enhanced police officers' productivity, the legal landscape surrounding society's use of these devices continues to evolve. The resulting uncertainty occasionally leads to makeshift policies, undesirable press coverage, and lengthy court battles. As the law in this domain solidifies, departments must be quick to recognize appropriate tactics and quickly adopt effective policies. A more pronounced area of smartphone jurisprudence centers around citizens recording on-duty police officers, which is now legal in every jurisdiction of the United States. Nevertheless, misunderstandings about two-party consent laws and wiretap statutes have resulted in a substantial number of improper arrests and detentions in recent years. As a result, departments have not only been responsible for more than $1 million in related settlements over the past three years, but have also faced heavy scrutiny by the public and in the media for these events. Through proactive training, departments have an opportunity to stop the bleeding of public trust and shape perception of law enforcement for the better.

Typically the work of science fiction, a zombie apocalypse has proven an effective way to engage citizens in disaster preparedness. Dispersing instructions within entertaining stories about the living dead, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention runs successful campaigns with this theme in order to share insights about how to brace for natural disasters. Getting residents prepared for emergencies helps trained first responders to become more effective in their own response within a community.

The Army released its "Training for Full Spectrum Operations" field manual in December 2008. A few short months later, work had already begun on revisions. The increasingly complex battlefield is prompting the service to rethink the way it trains for war. Troops can find themselves conducting offensive operations, defending against an attack or carrying out stability operations - building schools, meeting with local tribal leaders to help improve citizens' conditions - all in the course of one day. "It's not specifically that you conduct offense, you conduct defense, then you conduct stability operations," said Lt. Gen. Thomas Miller, commanding general of the First Army, Fort Gillem, Ga. "The approach is that those are always intermingled together … It's just the dynamic nature of the fight."

Community policing is a widely-adopted model put into practice for nearly 40 years. The concept stemmed from a desire to address community concerns about rising crime rates through increased citizen involvement. To strengthen relationships with their constituents and improve their own reputations, police officers asked for assistance in solving and preventing crimes in the area. Recent advancements in technology are altering the ways in which law enforcement agencies can incorporate community policing into their operations. By providing an easier and more efficient way for people to report crime and share information, social networks like Facebook and Twitter significantly impact how well police connect with people. Software for mobile devices facilitates and eases communication both internal and external to a department. Officers who master these digital tools may increase the effectiveness of community policing in their jurisdictions.

When local law enforcement is able to engage residents in an exchange of information, crime-fighting is more effective. Increasingly, social media is becoming a valuable tool for police and citizens to engage each other. These networks present opportunities to gather and distribute information quickly. Many departments are not able, willing or sometimes allowed to leverage the benefits of this technology. The ones who do so successfully, however, provide a blueprint for peers to follow.

No matter the industry, your job requires you to develop a particular mindset in order to perform well. Whether you fabricate metal, perform surgery, or control operations in a large company, your mind must be focused on the task at hand. For law enforcement professionals, the right mindset necessitates some cynicism. Cynicism is an inherent part of police culture. Outside of the first responder and military network, law enforcement officers face situations unlike other professions. Officers constantly assess situations by determining the credibility and potential threat of people they encounter. In a 2012 publication, researchers Juha Kaarianen and Reino Siren noted how this practice can slip into other interactions: "The suspicious, cynical attitude of the police towards citizens is a natural consequence of their constant interactions with dangerous unreliable individuals." The cynical mind begins to diminish trust and drives constant assessment of others. Whether on- or off-duty, constant questions linger in an officer's mind: Can you trust that the person approaching you is going to simply walk by without attempting to harm you? Can you trust that the figure walking down a residential sidewalk is not looking for an easy target to attack or the next home to burglarize? A cynical mind may seem like a negative facet of police life, but the ability to carefully assess situations and react accordingly is a sign of a seasoned and well-trained officer.

When law enforcement agents head into an interrogation room, they are tasked with getting to the truth of an investigation. They must do so while protecting themselves and the rights of the individuals they are questioning. Since the early 1900s, federal agencies were banned from using audio records of suspect statements without special approval. More than a century later, however, the U.S. Department of Justice changed that policy, mandating that federal agencies record video of all interrogations of suspects in custody, whenever possible.