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Associate Editor
Former associate editor of Police Magazine and a retired patrol supervisor and investigator with the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, Sgt. Dean Scoville has received multiple awards for government service. He was the author of Shots Fired, Police Magazine's monthly column examining officer-involved shootings as experienced by the officers themselves.
For all its censuring of personnel for on-duty trysts and off-duty DUIs, the profession pays curiously little attention to an ongoing transgression perpetrated within it: stat fudging. Misreporting statistics about crime is not a new phenomenon.
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If the men and women of patrol have to be exposed to a cross-section of varied subjects, then law enforcement administrators are expected to have doctorates in each of those and be able to answer for and explain the seemingly inexplicable actions of each of their subordinates.
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For our 100th "Shots Fired" article, I'm going to step outside the normal formula of our concept and talk about some things I've learned and some heroic officers I've had the honor of interviewing.
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By understanding three basic steps—Breathe, STOT, Move—officers are able to maintain control over their physiological responses and employ more effective psychological responses to stressful incidents.
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Perhaps the most significant factor in an officer's ability to recover from a shooting incident is the level of support offered to him by his department. Departments that provide post-shooting support and advocate for their officers in the media and with health care providers are more likely to benefit from their actions in the long run.
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The wife says that there is usually justification to my umbrage—it's my bail schedule that sucks. And so mine has been a history of strained associations, parted companies, and dissolved friendships.
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The cop is the decision maker. Not Jesse Jackson. Not Al Sharpton. Not even the Supreme Court. All that stuff can be argued about later, and might well be.
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For those who finish their law enforcement careers, the breadth of experiences the profession avails them offers all manner of post-career options, and nothing speaks to the heart of the adrenaline junkie like another round in the octagon of law enforcement.
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No sooner were the words out of Schoen's mouth than he observed the shooter coming down the ladder in front of the house and walking toward his patrol car. He heard his K-9, "Falco," barking at the man from his back seat kennel.
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Being in Condition Yellow has allowed me to identify a thief before he acted on his intentions, a would-be assailant before he launched his attack. It has given me pause to re-evaluate the decision to pet a dog, or patronize certain establishments.
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