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Military training is a demanding experience. Service members test themselves mentally and physically by enduring extreme situations. The skills learned in these exercises put soldiers in a position to succeed on the battlefield, but they also remain valuable when a veteran transitions from the service into civilian life.

The head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's civil liberties office said the transition to a more transparent intelligence community will be slow. "The intelligence community is not designed and built for transparency. We're designed and built for the opposite," said Alexander Joel, the ODNI's civil liberties protection officer. He spoke on a panel at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies Dec. 4.

Every day, police officers encounter situations that invoke and challenge their training. As they try to adhere to department policies, a changing world tests the validity and effectiveness of those decisions. Critical attention is being paid to high-profile incidents involving use of force. Communities are demanding that law enforcement revisit their training content to find tactics that better address concerns of public safety. While that transition may be difficult, injecting technology at key points in police training and operations can help lower resistance to change. Body cameras are already having an impact on policing, and training simulators offer a safe environment in which to prepare for emerging real-world challenges. As a result, officers may be more willing to shift their routines to meet the needs of their communities without sacrificing their own safety.

Law enforcement agencies across the U.S. are still experiencing the effects of a recovering economy. Lowered state funding continues to slash local budgets, compelling many departments to lay off officers. Agencies are faced with the choice to have their remaining officers focus on law enforcement or administrative duties, the former being the priority. As a result, they may look to engage people who are not sworn officers to complete critical administrative tasks. The concept of civilianization is not a new one, but the shift toward civilianization that occurred near the end of the 20th century was substantial. In 1965, the ratio of sworn officers to civilians employed by law enforcement agencies was 8.3:1, and in 1995 the ratio was 2.6:1. In general, civilians have been employed to a greater extent in large metropolitan police departments than small departments. They are employed more in the west than the east, and also are employed in greater proportions in city and county departments than in state agencies. Increasing civilian employment in law enforcement may help organizations address the diminished number of sworn officers. Civilianization of police departments offers many advantages and disadvantages for organizations that should be reviewed before making this transition.