Technology : Updated Legal Resources for our Nation’s Law Enforcement Officers; now easier and more convenient

By Lieutenant Joseph Bucco

Tired of lugging code books and reference material around on patrol? Would you like current and validated legal publications that can be easily accessed right from your hand-held or in-car smart device?  With over a quarter of a million officers across the country currently utilizing their publications, Blue360 Media is the leading legal information supplier to the law enforcement community.  Started in 2017 by a team of successful business executives with decades of legal publishing experience, this group answered the request made by thousands of officers nationally to have easier access to the required information they need daily. The new Blue360 Media mobile application allows officers to have digital access to essential resources in a user-friendly, searchable format.

Based in Park City Utah, Blue360 Media provides legal content covering 47 states plus the District of Columbia and professional development material to all 50 states.  Their publications include law enforcement manuals, code books, field guides, and an Officer Series focused on topics such as Interview and Interrogation, Search and Seizure and Impaired Driving.  Their staff is a dedicated team of experienced legal publishers, legal editors, attorneys, technology developers, former law enforcement officers and even active law enforcement officers who provide crucial guidance in the ever-changing climate of the law enforcement industry.  Whether it is providing the most current and up-to-date laws, guidelines and training material to the rookie street cop or the seasoned investigator, their mission is to inform the people who keep our communities safe.

Found on the App® Store or Google PlayTM, the new Blue360 Media mobile application can be tailored specifically to the agency’s needs. In addition to the material published byBlue360 Media, the agency may add local ordinances, accreditation material, rules and regulations or any material they deem appropriate. Digital quarterly updates in select jurisdictions are available for subscription-based customers, so there is no need to wait until the following year’s publication for a new law or legislative change.

Most recently, Blue360 Media acquired Looseleaf Law Publications, Inc., adding more than 150 publications from this companyto its portfolio of products to better serve law enforcement professionals. Founded over 50 years ago, the Queens New York-based Looseleaf Law Inc.titles include: Magill’s Manuals for Local NYS Courts, Connecticut Criminal and Motor Vehicle Laws, Effective Police Leadership, and penal and traffic laws serving police academies across the country.  At a time where people may find it easier to conduct a Google search for a specific code or statute and hope to get it right, the team of experienced lawyers at Blue360 Media spend hours ensuring they have captured all the statutory changes that impact law enforcement in any given year. Blue360 Media then provides simple to read legislative highlights that make it easier to know what changes occurred during that legislative session. They also include a “search” feature, allowing users tolook for specific statutes or key terms without going through the entire publication. There is also a Favorites tab where the user can store their most frequently used references.  The Recents tab allows users to easily return to a recently used resource. As a police officer for two decades, I have found that having all this information digitally at my fingertips mitigates risk to the agency by providing validated and manageable access to essential material.  Currently, at a time when police officers are constantly facing scrutiny on multiple fronts, this is a need-to-have not a nice-to-have application.

Joseph Bucco is a Municipal Police Lieutenant in New Jersey.  He is currently in his 20th year of service and is assigned to the patrol division as a supervisor. A certified police instructor since 2011, Joe has taught a variety of topics at police academies across northern New Jersey. Some of his past assignments include the departments’ Detective Bureau, Street Crimes Unit as well as an on-loan assignment with a multi jurisdiction Fugitive Task Force. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Ramapo College of New Jersey and a Master of Arts from Seton Hall University’s Police Graduate Studies Program. In 2018, Joe accepted a position as a Business Development Manager with a national communications and media company that is solely focused on serving our nations law enforcement officers.