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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shots Fired

Chicago PD In Transition

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.

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.

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,"

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.