By Stephen Owsinski Even though the patrol division is the traditional nucleus of every police organization, elite units diligently train to exceed the ordinary boundaries, often resulting in extraordinary saves. Bomb squads and SWAT teams and aviators and scuba divers are what we are generally talking about. Specifically, we’ll explore the Emergency Services Unit (ESU). Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D When an OIS (officer involved shooting) occurs there is a major investigative effort by specialized units or by agencies outside of the officer’s employer. Witnesses are interviewed, measurements are taken, video is examined frame by frame, and physical evidence is collected. Even if no shot is fired but other Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D In ecological studies, the behavior of animals based on the behavior of their predators is described as a landscape of fear. The term and concept is part of the conversation regarding the increasing wolf population. In an excerpt of The Wolf’s Tooth by Cristina Eisenberg in Scientific American magazine, Read more »
By Steve Pomper The numbers keep going up. If you’re a cop looking at your stock portfolio, eying retirement (someday), that’s a good thing. But if you’re a cop, just hoping to enjoy that retirement, the rising numbers of officers shot (and killed) in the line of duty is not a good thing—at all. According Read more »
Emma Rechenberg: Violence against police officers continues. The National Fraternal Order of Police says through March, 101 officers have been shot. That’s a 43% increase from last year, 17 killed by gunfire, fire, 32 officers shot in separate ambush style attacks since then. A Philadelphia officer is recovering this morning after being shot overnight. And Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski The most severe facet among America’s law enforcement officers is the constancy of responding to acts of human depravity and absorbing society’s ugly side. If only our species were coated by Teflon… As humans with emotional capacity, events in our lives tend to sway, sometimes making our thoughts seem like cliffhangers…with no Read more »
By Steve Pomper When we think about a “secret police,” we likely think of the former East Germany, the Soviet Union, the current North Korea, Cuba, or the many countries around the world run by tyrants. However, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is showing us another more mundane, though still sinister, definition of secret police. In Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski Once again, the pro-police Florida Legislature generated a robust bill to back the blue, touting “the most law enforcement-friendly state in the nation” title. This time, it was not only pay raises and $1000 bonuses for Florida law enforcement officers (just like last year), but also $5000 signing on bonuses for cops Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D One of the controversies that doesn’t make sense to the average observer is the question of whether police officers should be able to review their own body camera video before writing their report. The alleged fear is that officers will be tainted by viewing their video. Really? Should physicians Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D We talk about “split-second” decisions as though it is an exaggeration referring to a short period of time. In the world of policing, split seconds are the reality of critical incidents. Citizens are quite content to ooh and ahh over close calls in sports. Fans may be frustrated by Read more »