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The Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic controller training program overran costs four years in a row because it didn't properly outline training needs before issuing the program contract, a Dec. 18 Transportation Department inspector general report says. The overruns totaled about $89 million. In 2008, the FAA began developing the Air Traffic Control Optimum Training Solution meant to train thousands of new controllers the agency intends to hire by 2021.

Driven by shrinking public coffers, state and local governments face a growing number of challenges. Law enforcement organizations are particularly at risk due to legacy technologies that compound costs through implementation expenses, maintenance fees, software upgrades and hardware purchases. More and more, this hidden price is motivating law enforcement departments to try cloud computing-Software as a Service (SaaS), in particular-to bring down costs and increase flexibility. To gain those benefits, however, departments must be able to overcome new issues involving information security, data management, and protecting confidentiality.

The use of force constitutes a seizure under the Fourth Amendment. It is analyzed by courts under an objective reasonableness test: the amount of force used in any police encounter must be reasonable in relation to the risks presented. Deadly force is acceptable only if an officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious injury to the officer or others. When an officer exceeds these bounds, supervisors and departments may be subject to liability. Use of force occurs in a relatively small number of interactions between the police and public, but the potential costs in terms of dollars, reputations and lives demand that resources be allocated toward its management. Through standards, education and technology, departments can effectively and proactively limit their exposure to these costs.

Last month, a group of retired senior-ranking officers argued before a packed audience at the Capitol Hill Club that despite the near certainty of shrinking military budgets, there are ways to trim the Defense Department's spending without leaving the armed forces less-than-ready for combat. Their plan, they contend, could reduce the overall size of the military while actually increasing its combat power. And in doing so, it will support Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's call to revamp the military so that it remains sufficiently strong "under a cloud of budget restraints and uncertainty."

Terrorist organizations value lone wolves for their ability to carry out the goals of the organization with lower costs, little or no need to plan, and a lower probability of detection, Amit Kumar of Georgetown University said during a recent event at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Lone wolf attacks also appeal to organizations because they can motivate terrorist sympathizers to act.

Each year, public safety professionals learn more about the complexities of firefighting. Technology has advanced with that knowledge, allowing first responders to capture critical data and use it to inform future calls. Faced with budgetary and personnel shortages that hamper management of that data, however, fire departments stand to benefit from adoption of cloud-based solutions. Taking on the burden of hardware and software maintenance, Software as a Service (SaaS) greatly mitigates the technical overhead for a firehouse. Cloud computing improves performance, increases access to important information, and lowers the total cost of ownership for software. For fire departments, that efficiency translates into more effective emergency response.

As public funds continue to shrivel, state and local governments are increasingly turning to the Internet to trim technology costs and better manage information services. Cloud computing not only makes it possible to access information from anywhere at any time, but also to shed internal IT infrastructure in favor of renting software applications from remote providers. There are essentially three types of cloud computing services: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). All three provide computer servers, data storage and communications capabilities at a central location, allowing clients to access software applications remotely. However, each is designed for a specific business need. Which type of service an organization needs comes down to two basic questions: How much internal technical expertise will be supported by the department? Is the department prepared to invest in ongoing maintenance of software? Often, government agencies benefit by freeing up these resources to address greater needs.

Law enforcement agencies depend on new technology to help them ensure public safety. One such innovation is virtual firearms training, a practice facility that replaces traditional guns with digital ones. Several agencies across the U.S. are exploring use of virtual firearms training to save costs, increase efficiency and flexibility, and dramatically lower the risks to officers.

Already tasked with many responsibilities, firefighter duties are expanding in a few cities to include more medical care. Unlike tactical medical teams, where EMTs are given tactical skills to use on the scene, this medical attention occurs after an individual has been discharged from the hospital.

A fitness test is an effective and legal device for screening first responders, but only when designed and implemented in a particular way. Though some believe that the daily demands of public safety professionals are enough to maintain adequate levels of fitness, this is a faulty and dangerous assumption. Even though the most common tasks performed by first responders do not involve physical exertion, the primary goal of training and fitness should be to ensure that first responders are able to get to, control and remove a threat to public safety. Because individuals with poor fitness may be incapable of performing these essential tasks, departments with lax or no standards are at risk for lawsuits based on negligence and deliberate indifference. Implementing overly-stringent standards is hardly a panacea for a department's litigation woes. If standards are based on, relative to, or disparately impact members of a protected class, then rejected applicants may allege discrimination under state or federal law.

There are strong correlations between rising temperatures and crime rates. To keep the public safe, leaders need not only to be aware of this relationship, but also to engage peers and the public in developing solutions to the impending resource gaps.

Several months ago I taught a class on successful strategies and tactics for implementing on-line training and education. The class curriculum required a "status report" on the state of computer based training in public safety. In preparation for the class I conducted a web based survey of public safety trainers and senior staff officers. The reason for this specific group was to better understand and hear from trainers in the classroom and those in budget decision positions.