The Drug War We Can’t Stop Fighting

The Drug War We Can’t Stop Fighting

By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Drug laws have been all over the map since the first federal legislation started regulating them. A 1912 international agreement obligated all participating nations to regulate opium traffic within their borders. The U.S. Congress passed the 1914 Harrison Narcotic Act to meet the treaty obligations. Intended to be a Read more »

Are Bad Habits Fueling the Crime Wave?

By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sounded like the parent of a pre-schooler saying some people picked up “bad habits” during the COVID isolation. He made the statement during a closed-door public safety roundtable held in Pueblo, Colorado, a community of 120,000 suffering from the same challenges of violent crime Read more »

Florida Sheriff: ‘This Drug House is Closed’

By Stephen Owsinski Piggybacking on an article I recently wrote about law enforcement executives leading from the front, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno demonstrated the point by suiting up in special ops gear, saddling up with his agency’s narcotics unit deputies, and shutting down a drug operation for good. In the culmination of a successful Read more »

Jury Acquits Virginia Cop Who Never Should Have Been Charged

By Steve Pomper   There have been a lot of acquittals of cops, lately. This is likely because prosecutors never should have charged the officers in the first place. So-called police “oversight” shouldn’t include trying every officer in a court of law—for doing their jobs—because you didn’t like the outcome.   “A jury has acquitted a Read more »

Leading from the Front in Law Enforcement

By Stephen Owsinski My prior article touched upon the strength of law enforcement leaders who have that special stuff to get through enormous challenges and mentor the troops to cope effectively. Today, we trail off a tad and look at police chiefs and sheriffs working the street beat and going hands-on, just like days of Read more »

The Challenge of Diagnosing Mental Health Issues

By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Police agencies have been criticized for their handling of calls regarding people with mental illness. The major problem is not the ignorance of police officers in dealing with the mentally ill. The challenge is knowing if someone has a mental illness at the time of the police contact. If Read more »

The Resistance Factor

By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Cops have always had the “do you know who I am” folks, the “I pay your salary” folks, and the “why aren’t you out arresting real criminals” folks. They’ve always had the runners, the fighters, and the too drunk to know what they’re even doing. There are also the Read more »