From the editor: Closing Thoughts

World events on the geopolitical, economic and cultural fronts don’t take a time-out and neither does the Trends Research Institute. While our signature Trends Journal will continue to provide detailed analysis and projections regarding the major issues, this new monthly publication will identify, analyze and track trends in real time, giving subscribers a view of the trends we are watching. Trends Monthly, the Trends Journal and our other content offerings are all designed to provide analysis of emerging trends and strategies to allow our readers to seize opportunities and avoid dangers. 

For example, this month’s article on the Policing for Profit trend sprang from continuing research on the Cops Gone Wild trend reported in the summer 2013 Trends Journal edition and again in the last issue of the Trends Journal. A number of observers have noted that, in the US, approximately 5,000 people have been killed by police since 9/11, more than the number of Americans killed in Iraq. Some have theorized that this large number is a result of the proliferation of SWAT teams and the influx of battlefield materiel to local police forces (look no further than the images emerging from the civil unrest in Ferguson, MO, following the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown).

That’s a statistic that, surprisingly, is hard to nail down since neither the DOJ nor the FBI maintain complete records of arrest-related deaths. We were finally able to ascertain, through the Bureau of Justice Statistics that, from 2003 (when data collection began) through 2009 (latest data available), there were 2,931 homicides by law enforcement personnel. Perhaps, one can extrapolate from that.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, however, do offer an exhaustive trove of information about crime in America and how it’s trending. Following the statistics and the facts led us to Policing for Profit.

Alex Silberman, Senior and Trends Monthly editor

Read more articles from this issue of Trends Monthly online.