Submission Guidelines for Contributing Authors

The Tactical Edge welcomes submissions from NTOA members and selected non-members. Authors should follow the following guidelines:

Manuscripts should be double-spaced on 8.5 x 11-inch paper. Please submit an original manuscript, no faxes please. Complete contact information should be provided, including law enforcement affiliation, daytime phone, fax, and e-mail address if applicable.

Authors are asked to save manuscripts to a floppy disk or CD in PC format using Microsoft Word and disks must be labeled with title, author’s name and date. Do not format the text with multiple fonts, indents, underlines, etc. If you have special editing concerns, mark them on the hard copy. Submissions should include the original manuscript and the computer disk. Manuscripts cannot be returned.

Articles submitted must be approved for publication by an NTOA editorial review board. The NTOA reserves the right to edit all papers for style, clarity or length, as well as punctuation, spelling, grammar, syntax and other word usages. All articles are edited to meet NTOA style guidelines, popularly found in the Associated Press Stylebook and Chicago Manual of Style.

A recent head-and-shoulder photograph of the author and a biographical sketch should also be included with submissions. Regular contributors are asked to update their biographical material and portrait with each submission.

Photographs which accompany submissions may be black-and-white or color prints or transparencies, line art and electronic files. The NTOA reserves the right to crop photos. Police department photographers are encouraged to submit photos for consideration and recognition, if published. All photos must include captions. Captions should be short but complete, typed out, dated, and keyed by number referencing digital file name or attached to the back of the photograph. As a rule photos are not returned, however special requests will be honored.

Feature articles typically run 1,500 to 2,500 words. We welcome focused articles of 1,000 words or less, and consider in-depth articles of 3,000 words. All articles are peer-reviewed.

The NTOA does not offer monetary compensation for articles published.

 

 

 

Incident summaries

The Tactical Edge publishes incident summaries for the benefit of fellow officers. Often the lessons learned in one incident will help law enforcement anticipate potential problems in future incidents. Incident summaries for The Tactical Edge may be brief or in-depth, depending on the type of incident and the lessons learned.

We welcome your commentary and observations, so that others may learn from the tactics — good and bad — that were employed. This type of article does not require extensive writing experience. Often an informative article can be created from a written report. The staff of The Tactical Edge will provide editing expertise.

Please include contact information and current law enforcement status of the writer. If desired, the name of the law enforcement agency and/or the exact locale can be eliminated from publication.

Summaries must be factual. Provide only constructive criticism, the kind that is useful during any incident debrief.

Photos are helpful as are charts or diagrams. In some situations, the staff of the magazine can improve on the hand-drawn diagrams submitted.

Incident summaries should be sent to the Editor, The Tactical Edge, NTOA, P.O. Box 797, Doylestown, PA 18901.

 
“Crosshairs” team profile guidelines for The Tactical Edge

We know you are proud of your team. Share your pride with the rest of the SWAT and law enforcement community by writing a profile highlighting your team. See it in print in The Tactical Edge!

Introduction
• description of area served
• demographics

History of team
• event(s) leading up to formation
• early visionaries/mentors
• early organization
• training challenges/opportunities
• significant event(s) forming team cohesiveness
• current status of team (number/quality of members, leaders, command)

Equipment
• development of priorities
• first purchases
• current status of equipment (vehicles, weapons, etc.)
• funding sources

Milestones
• significant events/call outs (different from history of team section)
• could include one or more brief incident summaries

Closing
• awards, testimonials, support of community
• team philosophy/mission statement
• future goals and objectives
• author photo and short bio

Photos
• at least one good quality team photo a must
• additional photos of training
• vehicle/equipment photo(s)
• historical photo if available

Profiles should be sent to the Editor, The Tactical Edge, NTOA, P.O. Box 797, Doylestown, PA 18901.

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