As We Begin a New Year Together at Improving Police
As this year comes to a close, I want to pause and offer something simple but deeply felt: thank you!
In 2025, Improving Police continued its purpose — to be a place where thoughtful, principled conversation about policing, democracy, and community responsibility can live and grow. This year reminded me that while one person can write, change only happens when many people read, reflect, challenge, and carry ideas forward into their own communities.
By the Numbers — A Year of Engagement
This past year:
- 99 new posts were published
- Bringing the total to more than 1,700 posts since the blog began in 2012
- 48,300 readers visited the site in 2025 alone; total views now are over 750,000!
- We now have over 900 subscribers following the conversation
Readers came from across the world, with the top ten countries being:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Philippines
- Australia
- India
- Germany
- South Korea
- Netherlands
- Japan
That global reach continues to humble me. It reminds me that questions about policing, accountability, dignity, and democracy are not confined by borders.
What You Read Most
The three most-read pieces this year were:
- My Homepage – a reminder that clarity of purpose still matters.
- The Madison Method – reflecting ongoing interest in police response to public protest; what principled, community-centered policing can look like.
- Hazing and Bullying in the Police Academy – a difficult but necessary conversation about culture, power, and responsibility as to how we train and lead new police officers.
These topics share something important in common: they speak to how institutions shape behavior—and how good people can choose to shape those institutions.
Why This Work Matters
This blog has never been about criticizing for its own sake. It exists because democracy depends on institutions worthy of trust, and trust is earned through transparency, accountability, and moral courage.
Over the years, many of you—police officers, community members, scholars, activists, and concerned citizens—have written to say that something here helped clarify a question, sharpen a value, or strengthen a resolve. That is the highest purpose this work can serve.
In a time when fear is often louder than facts and division easier than dialogue, continuing to show up—thoughtfully and honestly—is itself an act of civic responsibility.
Looking Ahead
As we move into a new year, my hope remains steady:
That we continue to insist policing be worthy of public trust.
That we defend democratic norms not with slogans, but with integrity.
And that we remember progress is built not by spectacle, but by sustained, principled effort.
Thank you for reading, sharing, challenging, and standing with this work.
Together, we are doing what this blog was always meant to do:
help strengthen policing in service of a free and democratic society.
With gratitude,
David Couper
Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 