Across the country, public safety agencies are rolling up their sleeves, sharpening their pencils, and prioritizing essential public services amid the uncertainty of their budgets. Budget cuts are being proposed across the board, sometimes as high as 50%. That is not the norm, but any cut to an agency's budget hits hard. Leaders must be creative when working on their fiscal budgets, and many have found that leveraging their data helps make strategic decisions.

First response is a profession built on tradition. As such, members have shown a reluctance to accept changes in how they perform their duties – including new technology. But that is slowly changing. Before long, the use of mobile apps or similar advances will be as second nature as patrol cars, self-contained breathing apparatuses and portable radios. Most of today's first responders cannot remember, but the industry was slow to adapt each of those advances -- all of which have helped to shape it.

There may never have been a more challenging time to be working in public safety than right now.  Since the outbreak of COVID-19 many first responders have been working excessively long hours, often for several weeks in a row to keep our communities safe.  These past few weeks have been incredibly tough for law enforcement with civil unrest and calls for reform, de-funding and even dismantling of police agencies. With overtime already spiraling out of control and the long term impact of the economic slowdown, many agencies are looking back in order to chart a course forward.