Policing on the Front Lines of a Changing Climate

The call comes over the radio, but it’s not for a robbery or a suspect on the run. Instead, it’s the roar of a wildfire, the aftermath of a devastating tornado, or the churn of rising floodwaters. For officers like Maya Singh in California, Trooper Cole Jackson in Kentucky, and Deputy C.J. Miller in Arkansas, the nature of their "beat" has fundamentally changed. Their stories, while fictional, paint a vivid picture of a new reality where law enforcement officers are increasingly on the front lines of climate-related disasters, tasked with saving lives from an enemy that can't be arrested or reasoned with.

These harrowing scenarios highlight the urgent need for what researchers call "adaptive policing." This framework recognizes that as extreme weather events become more common, the traditional role of policing is no longer sufficient. The clear line between "natural" disasters and "social" order has dissolved, meaning police can no longer focus only on human-caused crime when the greatest threats often come from our environment. Law enforcement agencies must evolve to handle this new reality, or they risk being dangerously unprepared for the challenges ahead.

The journey toward adaptive policing involves three key stages: absorption, adaptation, and transformation. Absorption is an agency's ability to handle the initial shock of a crisis, but as these disasters grow in scale, simply managing chaos is not enough. The next stage, adaptation, involves learning and making concrete changes, such as when Deputy Miller's department bought rescue boats after experiencing repeated major floods. This requires formally recognizing emergency management as a core police skill.

Click here to read the article, Adaptive Policing: A New Climate, A New Paradigm, based on the work of FPI Fellow Dr. Jarrett Blaustein of The Australian National University and the Adaptive Policing Lab.