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AT&T Inc. says it will publish reports on the number of requests for customer information that it receives from law enforcement agencies, the latest move in the telecommunications industry toward fuller disclosure amid debate over government surveillance programs. The announcement Friday by the nation's largest telecom company came a day after rival Verizon Communications Inc. said it will make public the legal demands it has received. Dallas-based AT&T says it will publish a report twice a year online. The first one, covering requests received this year, will be out early next year.

Ed Murray, the mayor of Seattle, recently declared that 2014 will be a year of training for police officers in the city. Local officials worked with federal agencies to come up with a plan that would address past problems in protocol, and many of the proposed changes are going into effect this year.

Every chief, sheriff and departmental purchasing agent will start off 2014 with their eyes on some old issues and new trends to follow this year. New trends to follow next year will vary from the smaller department to the larger and add urban and rural filters to it. What are some of the trends or issues to follow, here are a few.

From depleted resources to toppling buildings, natural disasters can wreak havoc on communities. Some areas are more prone to particular weather-such as tornadoes, hurricanes or blizzards-while other regions see little need to plan for such catastrophes. When extreme weather impacts cities with large, unprepared populations, the opportunity for devastation increases. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the city spent years addressing the damage brought about by the disaster. Almost 10 years later, New Orleans is still recovering. To prevent other cities from suffering the same fate, several organizations have banded together to emphasize the importance of citywide resilience.

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.

The new year will bring new challenges and new approaches to solving old ones, everything from advancements in unmanned aircraft to a fleetwide program to reduce red tape. Here are a few things you need to know as 2014 begins.

This past year brought about many triumphs for Envisage Technologies. The company continued to expand its partnerships and product features, further establishing itself as the leading software company for the public safety training and compliance industry. As we gear up for another successful year in 2015, Envisage takes a look back at three noteworthy milestones in 2014:

On February 13, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in his sleep at the age of 79, marking only the second time in more than 60 years that a sitting justice on the Court has died. Appointed by President Ronald Reagan and unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 1986, Scalia's 29-year tenure was the longest of any current Supreme Court judge. Scalia's adherence to originalism-a belief that constitutional interpretation should be based on the original meaning of the text-not only set him apart from his contemporaries but also made him more controversial. Regardless of how history interprets Scalia's three-decade legacy on the bench, immediately more impactful for public safety professionals is the uncertainty left in his wake.

This past year was marked by innovative-sometimes controversial-technologies that promise to have significant impact on law enforcement agents, firefighters and EMTs. As first responder agencies begin to explore how they can integrate these new technologies into their operations, we revisit some of the most popular technology trends in 2014

Faced with new threats, first responders put their training to the test in 2014. Law enforcement agencies, disaster workers and even school teachers learned new practices and honed their instincts to better allow them to survive stressful situations while caring for others. As the year comes to an end, we look back on how comprehensive training strategies contributed to effective emergency responses

Disasters can strike anywhere and at any time. In recent years, many U.S. states experienced natural disasters firsthand, subjecting both civilians and first responders to a wide range of severe scenarios. When properly trained, emergency workers are able to care for themselves and others in these situations. The process of planning for and evaluating these events, however, extends beyond the crisis in progress.

"This is an example of great restraint and excellent police work in dealing with a mental health issue where the outcome could have been much different," Bob Gualtieri said. Sachse, 54, has been with the sheriff's office since March 17, 2004. He received Crisis Intervention Training the following year. The training is designed to teach deputies how to recognize mental health issues and to deal with them in the most effective manner, according to the sheriff's office.

A revamped Navy facility is making waves to see how ships fare in the unpredictable conditions out on the ocean. Officials unveiled the new maneuvering and seakeeping, or MASK, facility at Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock, Md., on Dec. 19, which simulates the kinds of waves sailors might encounter underway and tests how ships would handle them. "The engineers in this facility for the past 50 years have evaluated the maneuverability, stability and control of virtually all of our surface ships and submarines in the fleet today," NSWC Carderock division commander Capt. Rich Blank said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The number of law enforcement line of duty deaths in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level in six decades in 2013. Preliminary data released Monday in the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund's annual research bulletin noted that this was also the second year in a row the number of fatalities dropped and that the fewest number of officers were killed in firearms-related incidents since the 1800s

Firefighters and law-enforcement agencies in Riverside County are practicing or discussing new federal guidelines that, in order to save more lives, recommend sending armor-wearing medics into mass-casualty attacks before shooters or bombers are subdued. San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies and Rancho Cucamonga firefighters, meanwhile, are years ahead of the guidelines that the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued in September. The tactic is a departure from the common practice of making firefighters wait in safe areas for the all-clear from police before entering a scene to tend to the wounded. The impetus for change, said San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Danielle Boldt, began with the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado that killed 13 people.

For years, Tasers and stun guns have been used by law enforcement as a way to apprehend individuals without using excessive violence. Though they are used by more than 15,000 agencies across the U.S., these tools do not come without controversy.

In March 2011 the Hawthorne, California, Police Department Community Affairs Unit hosted their first Coffee with a Cop event. Police and community members came together in an informal, neutral space to discuss community issues, build relationships, and drink coffee. Just two years later, Coffee with a Cop events are being hosted in more than 36 states across the nation.

Less than a year after reaching its long-sought goal of 10,000 officers, the Los Angeles Police Department is now seeing a steady decline in its ranks as the city struggles to find enough qualified candidates. Fewer people are applying to join the LAPD and, of those who do, a significantly higher number of them are being disqualified from consideration. Officials say budget cuts have slashed the advertising used to draw recruits while other departments are luring top talent with higher salaries than the LAPD offers. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-lapd-recruits-20131204,0,603481.story#ixzz2n0bgBkEt

A team of heavily armed New York Police Department officers conducted a late-night drill at a closed shopping mall last month in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the chaos that accompanied the mall massacre earlier this year in Kenya, police officials said Tuesday.

In the year following the Newtown tragedy, police have reassessed the way they'd respond to a similar incident, and a number of departments are learning how to better work with people who have mental health issues or are in crisis.