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Type: Blog

Foot and Hoof Patrol: Meaningfully Connecting Cops and Citizens

Foot patrol is the essence of community policing—officers on foot create opportunities for the public to connect with their police (and vice versa). Conversely, when officers are wrapped in two tons of metal and plastic, that opportunity for real connection is essentially lost.

December 7, 2018

Arrive Alive: Police Must Reduce Single-Vehicle Crashes on Patrol

Too many officers are driving themselves into their graves—turning their cars into their coffins—in single-vehicle crashes. According to ODMP, there were 34 such preventable duty deaths in a three-year span from 2016 to the present. It's impossible to know how many officers were seriously injured but survived single-vehicle crashes during that time period. Something must be done.

November 30, 2018

Among the five tenets of the Below 100 program is the admonition to 'watch your speed' behind the wheel. This is as close to a 'no brainer' as there can possibly be, but excessive speed has proven to be one of the prevailing factors in single-vehicle collisions. Image courtesy of Below 100.

Officer Safety Considerations for Foot Pursuits

While empirical data doesn't exist—at least to my knowledge—on lost productivity due to injuries sustained during foot pursuits, anecdotal evidence suggests that medical leave following such activities is significant enough to give some thought to the matter.

November 23, 2018

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Recharging Your Batteries: The Benefits of "Unplugging"

There is certainly benefit to being current on events involving the people you consider family—your brothers and sisters across the country with whom you share a special bond—as well as the world at large. However, it's also important—and extremely beneficial—to spend some time completely disconnected from the job. This is a lesson I recently re-learned.

November 16, 2018

I promised myself—and more importantly, my family—that during a recent vacation to Hawaii I would completely disconnect in a 'fast from all manner of media.' It was on my flight home that I realized that I was more rested and relaxed than I'd been in years. Image courtesy of Doug Wyllie.

Speaking on the Unspeakable: Ending the Pandemic of Police Officer Suicide

I've talked with officers who have lost a colleague to suicide—as well as many widows of officers who died by suicide—and just about everyone has said that the warning signs were there before tragedy struck. They just didn't put the pieces together until it was too late. Let's all do a better job of helping officers in crisis.

November 9, 2018

A Thin Blue Line Flag

Love and Hate: Some Observations about the Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack

It's somewhat disappointing that it takes an act of evil for the pure good in people to come bubbling visibly to the surface, but when the deep-down-good does show itself, we are reminded that it's been there all along—it's just been hiding beneath the waterline.

November 2, 2018

Police Humor: 12 Jokes about Law Enforcement and Police Work

Unbeknownst to many in the public—but well-known to pretty much all of the men and women who stand behind the thin blue line that protects them—police officers have a tremendous sense of humor. It's time to take a little break from heavy subjects and have a little fun.

October 26, 2018

Chicago PD In Transition

October 25, 2018

Shots Fired

October 25, 2018

Why Schools Should Teach Students about Policing and Constitutional Law

I've long held the belief that a year-long civics class should be a requirement nationwide. Further, these classes should include more than just the basic structure of government. Curriculum should incorporate Constitutional Law and Supreme Court cases related to the Fourth and Eighth amendments, as well as police policies, procedures, and practices.

October 19, 2018

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Training School Teachers and Administrators to Respond to Active Killers

Very few people who get into teaching have the mental, emotional, or physical fortitude to use deadly force when under imminent threat. However, every teacher should receive some level of active shooter response training—everyone should have at least some idea of what to do in an attack.

October 12, 2018

IACP 2018: Watching Trump's Speech to Law Enforcement

Trump slammed the Obama administration for restricting law enforcement's acquisition of military surplus equipment based on concerns of militarization. He called that "a very strange reason" for keeping life-saving equipment away from officers. "People are shooting at you and some people are worried about how you look,"

October 10, 2018

How Police Agencies Can Help Prevent K-9 Duty Deaths

A police K-9 is not just a member of the department—they are also a family member of the handler. Handlers and their K-9 partners basically spend their lives together—off duty and on—for many years. Most handlers keep their dogs after the animal is retired from active duty. The bond between a handler and "man's best friend" is truly unique. When a police dog dies in the line of duty, the emotional impact is just as difficult—albeit decidedly different—as when a human partner is killed.

October 5, 2018

FBI Says Crime is Down, So Why Does It Feel Like the Opposite is True?

The estimated number of violent crimes in the United States decreased 0.2% in 2017 compared to 2016, according to FBI data released on Monday. Property crimes reportedly dropped 3.0%. So why does it feel to most cops on the street that the exact opposite is true?

September 28, 2018

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How the Bond between Cops and Kids Might Help Solve the Police Recruitment Crisis

Many police departments have a pop-up tent, a folding table, and a bunch of knick-knacks with the department badge or logo to give away during street festivals and other events. This is a very passive recruitment tool, and arguably a giant waste of time and resources. Where the real recruitment opportunities exist are in the day-to-day contact between young people and the police officers who serve their communities.

September 21, 2018

Officer Mitch 2

How the Threat of Terrorism has Changed Since 9/11

Now that law enforcement — particularly the FBI — has placed such an emphasis on investigating and thwarting attacks, a complex and costly plan like the one used on 9/11 would come to the attention of some three-letter agency, and the attackers arrested or killed (depending upon where we found them). Consequently, the tactics of the major terrorist organizations have changed.

September 14, 2018

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Why "Safe Injection Sites" are the Wrong Answer to the Opioid Question

Drug addicts need treatment, not assistance in furthering their addiction. The government and the private sector should be helping addicts shake their addiction — not giving them a "safe place" to continue destroying themselves.

September 7, 2018

Drug addicts need treatment, not assistance in furthering their addiction. The government and the private sector should be helping addicts shake their addiction — not giving them a 'safe place' to continue destroying themselves.

How Intelligence-Led Policing Makes Communities Safer

ILP’s core philosophy: humanizing police, as well as the citizens they protect, is the most effective form of crime prevention.

September 3, 2018

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