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Everyone has their own list of local "Good Guys To Know." While it's great to have a guy on call to get the best restaurant recommendations and a killer deal on that new truck, it can be just as useful in your career of law enforcement.
"Let us stop being selfish…to the ideas of the common good and of our existence, everything must be sacrificed." —General Jose de San Martin
Most departments forget to train officers for one very dangerous time on the job: the “safe” times, after a suspect has been arrested.
Sometimes just knowing a few words in a foreign tongue can make you safer and help you do your job better.
In a major criminal investigation, getting off your ass and knocking on some doors is essential. In fact, it is a crucial element in the early stages of working an unsolved case. The area canvass-knocking on the doors of all the residences surrounding the crime scene-is one of the first tasks a lead detective should have on his lead sheet.
Ask risk managers to tell you what causes the majority of vehicular accidents, and they will all sing the same tune: "Backing Up Is Hard To Do."
Old West sheriffs and marshals often carried a Colt .45 called the Peacemaker. But that .45 had the limitations of all handguns, so savvy Western lawmen also kept a short-barreled repeating rifle like a Winchester in their saddle bags. They knew that in a real gunfight, a carbine is the real “peace maker.”
Most of us are leaders in some facet of our lives. Any police officer who doesn't think of himself or herself as a leader is just plain wrong. I doubt that a cop who is also a parent could argue being a parent isn't about leadership, because it most certainly is.
Working perimeters can be tedious, but it's important that we remember the basics of this role.
From the scene to the stand, prepare to give effective testimony in court.
As an American law enforcement professional, you are a special individual who has followed a higher calling, voluntarily defending the lives and property of others. You have set yourselves apart as the true warriors of our modern society.
The great Bill Jordan once said: "There is no second-place winner in a gunfight." Even if you take nothing else away from this article, I ask that you train to win any gunfight that you become involved in, not survive it, but win it.
Brushing up on courtroom testimony.
The actions you take as a first responder can determine the value of crime scene evidence for investigators and prosecutors.
Police officers are tasked with being true “jacks of all trades.” One of the biggest drawbacks to this designation is the amount of gear and paperwork officers are required to carry out into the field with them. It’s like having your entire office in your car and on your belt! Maintaining these items is one of the most commonly overlooked, but most important, aspects of our job.
Veteran cops have always known that responding to a domestic altercation or assault is a high-risk assignment. The reasons for the danger are plentiful.
In the Southwestern U.S., a patrolman with about a year on the job was shot twice in the back of the head while transporting two robbery suspects in the back seat of his patrol car. The officer had failed to find a .380 caliber handgun concealed on one of the robbers. The officer died of the wounds he received in the 3:30 a.m. incident.
Car stops are a daily occurrence for most patrol officers. Whether in a big city or out in the country, a traffic stop is at the very root of what we do. And like most activities that we consider “routine,” we can get a little complacent on traffic stops and put ourselves on “auto pilot” without even realizing it. That’s a bad move on our part.
It is easy to get careless while engaged in something you do a great deal. If you are a uniformed police officer and don’t work in a jail, chances are that traffic and vehicles are the bread and butter of your existence.
No asset is more valuable in contemporary American policing than the ability to take charge and get others to follow.