Public Safety Law & Practice
Articles & Legal Updates
Timely analysis of cases, legislation, emerging technology, and operational developments affecting law enforcement and correctional agencies.
Constitutional Law
Use of Force
Qualified Immunity
Corrections
AI & Technology
Legal & Operational Analysis
Articles & Updates
The Circuits Draw the Line: Qualified Immunity at Mid-2026
Eleven decisions issued across six federal circuits and the Supreme Court show where qualified immunity continues to protect officials—and where courts draw the line. The analysis identifies practical lessons involving force, probable cause, fabricated evidence, civil disputes, supervision, and conditions of confinement.
The Supreme Court Rules: Geofence Warrants Are Searches
The Supreme Court held that obtaining Google Location History data is a Fourth Amendment search, regardless of the duration of the request or the data’s third-party storage. The decision leaves agencies with immediate questions about probable cause, particularity, and each stage of the geofence-warrant process.
The Court Has Spoken — In Silence
Three Supreme Court dispositions from the 2025–26 term reveal how the Court is applying qualified immunity through both action and inaction. This analysis explains the resulting implications for officers, agency counsel, corrections administrators, policy, training, and litigation.
Video Doesn’t Lie? The Dangerous Myth Behind Camera Evidence
Video can persuade, but it cannot capture everything. John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D., and John Black, D.B.A., examine how technical limits, perspective, perception gaps, and framing effects can make camera evidence far less objective than many people assume.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Managing Risk: Recommendations for Safer Restraint Chair Practices
John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D., and Mitchell Lucas examine restraint-chair liability, policy, training, monitoring, documentation, medical review, and accountability—and provide a practical checklist for safer use in correctional settings.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Restraint, Risk and Responsibility: Advancing Safety in Policing
How can agencies create a culture of safety that prevents restraint-related deaths? This article addresses monitoring, timely intervention, medical distress, training, supervision, and the shared responsibility to recognize when a detainee becomes a patient.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Managing the Risks of Public Safety Artificial Intelligence
John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D., and John Black, D.B.A., explore public safety AI risk through policy, shadow AI, training, human verification, data protection, and governance—offering practical steps for agencies adopting rapidly changing tools.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Artificial Intelligence for Public Safety Trainers and Educators
A practical introduction to AI for public safety trainers and educators, including core terminology, benefits, limitations, hallucinations, prompt use, and ways to make instruction more creative, efficient, effective, and productive.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Prone Restraint Cardiac Arrest: New Sudden Death Theory
This article examines a developing and controversial theory of sudden cardiac arrest following struggle and prone restraint, along with breathing, metabolic, monitoring, CPR, and agency-training implications for public safety personnel.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Recovery Position, Breathing and In-Custody Deaths: Myths vs. Science
John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D., separates the recovery position’s actual first-aid purpose from common misconceptions about breathing. The article highlights medical risks, prisoner-to-patient thinking, EMS, monitoring, and evidence-based training.
Read Article (opens in a new tab)Preventing Civil Unrest: Transitioning from Prisoner to Patient
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, John G. Peters, Jr., Ph.D., examines systemic failures in leadership, policy, training, and supervision—and explains why signs of medical distress must trigger an immediate shift from arrest procedure to patient care.
Read Article (opens the original publication in a new tab)Turn Legal Developments Into Training
Bring the issue into the classroom.
Shield helps law-enforcement and correctional agencies translate changing law, emerging technology, and operational risk into practical training for personnel, supervisors, trainers, and agency leaders.