Articles - Patrol

For some reason, most officers have a vision of a gunfight as being one shooter against another. The reality of such incidents is much different and even deadlier. An alarming number of police gunfights involve more than one bad guy against a single cop.

If you are shot while wearing body armor, you will still feel the energy of the bullet's impact. But if the armor works, the force will be spread out over your entire torso rather than in just a specific area.

None of the politicos knew until it was over that many of the officers only had one bullet each, and many of them had no ammunition at all.

Police work is not intended to generate revenue. This happens because the command staff allows it to happen and they, in turn, sell out their police officers and the entire law enforcement community.

Of course, you don't have to work the late shift or even work the streets for a cop's lifestyle and eating habits to add up to obesity, high blood pressure, and other coronary risk factors.

It got to the point where I had memorized a short speech in which I slowly explained to the confused citizen that the police officer's job was basically finding someone to arrest, arresting them, and then taking them to jail.

While police pursuits are a necessary part of police work and should not be banned, officers should be aware of the potential danger and terminate pursuits when the risk of injury outweighs the benefit of catching the suspect.

Mobile computing technology is changing the way law enforcement officers approach their jobs. It has freed them from in-house report writing and the tedious business of conveying messages through a dispatcher. It puts state and national databases at their fingertips, thereby decreasing wait time for critical information from 15 minutes to as little as 10 seconds. And it has increased officer productivity by as much as 50 percent.

Out of the trees came a charging, trumpeting bull elephant, apparently intent on stomping not only the ball, but all the players, too.

The biggest problem is recognizing true cover and what isn't. There is a distinct difference between cover and concealment.