In this issue: Around The Nation: A coast-to-coast roundup of police news. High-risk patrol: New dangers seen in bike patrol. Missing? How to get NCIC on the case. Try, try again: Seeking better handling of domestic violence. Blown away: Breath-testing device under fire in Mississippi. On retainer: Prosecutor’s office find good help is hard to keep. Monkey business: False news report haunts Mesa SWAT team. Don’t touch that dial: Police presence expands on cable TV. People & Places: Time to move on; life of Bryan; NYC’s new watchdog; a cop’s comeback; building a future; a lot of crust; unjust dessert; family first. Numbers don’t add up: W. Va. has problems with racial profiling data. Decisions, decisions: Courts have their say on a variety of issues. Criminal Justice Library: Crime’s roots as a family matter; lessons for living. Forum: 21st-century crime-fighting, with help from the ATF. At long last NIBRS: New use seen for incident-based data. Setting the pace: Violent crime declines in NYC & elsewhere. --top-- Note to Readers: The opinions expressed on the Forum page are those of the contributing writer or cartoonist, or of the original source newspaper, and do not represent an official position of Law Enforcement News. Readers are invited to voice their opinions on topical issues, in the form of letters or full-length commentaries. Please send all materials to the editor. --top--

Forum Cramer: Catching bad guys in the 21st century      In a quiet neighborhood somewhere near Miami, a man and his son are murdered while they sleep. Their home is ransacked and robbed. When Miami-Dade police arrive at the scene, the killer is gone, but the shell casings from his .22-caliber weapon are not. They lie on the floor near the victims, and police carefully collect each one.      Technicians at the Miami-Dade Police Crime Laboratory enter, or “image,” the shell casings into a ballistics imaging system provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The system creates digital images of the shell casings, including the specific markings (microscopic scratches and dents) left on them by the shooter’s weapon.... --top--