By Stephen Owsinski A 22-year-old autistic man named Alex Mann recently visited the Lumberton Township, New Jersey police department, chalking up his 291st visit to a law enforcement agency. Besides his admiration of cops, Mr. Mann is touring the American landscape to teach cops about the many dynamics of autism and how to handle interactions Read more »
By Steve Pomper Ohio Law Enforcement Academy vehicle When engaged in police work, most physical exertion amounts to jogging your fingers around a keyboard or lifting a donut or coffee cup, right? As veteran cops know, police work is defined (as they say) by, “long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.” And while Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D There are two items that were added to my duty belt during my career for which I was very grateful. One was pepper spray, the other was a TASER. Before that, the only tools I had were my revolver, my nightstick, tear gas spray, and my hands. There are Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Why did they have to shoot him? That is the primary question that is asked after police use deadly force. Could they have done something less lethal to end the threat? Good question, and one that must be answered in every case in which a suspect is shot by Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski In police academies and thereafter, training should be incessant and must overcome the various reasons America’s law enforcement officers are ordinarily shortchanged from imperative life-saving skill-building. Nevertheless, police academies and law enforcement agencies employ a contingent of men and women who are certified expert instructors in all facets of police tactics and Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The brim of the academy instructor’s campaign hat shudders just inches from the forehead of the rigid cadet straining not to bend over backward to retreat from the intense tirade. It was a typical start to a day that would be filled with push-ups and classroom studies. Even the Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The mantra of police reformers is more training. The problem with many of those voices is that activists and politicians have no idea what the current state of training and education of law enforcement in the US is. Research has shown that college-educated officers suffer less from stress, generate Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Dealing with other humans is often stressful. That fact isn’t unique to police officers. Anyone in retail, medicine, teaching or a host of other public contact jobs will have a story to tell. Police officers are almost always dealing with people who are not in their happiest moments. Nobody Read more »
By Steve Pomper Jason Harney: Writer, Producer, Editor, Director When I watched Jason Harney and Jon Gentile’s new documentary, Wrist Lock: The Martial Arts’ Influence on Police Use of Force,” about how the martial arts has influenced police training, my mind shot to city leaders like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Why? Because political leaders like him need to Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The statistics on police use of force cannot be repeated too often. With about 800,000 law enforcement officers of various stripes and duties making more than a million citizen contacts every week, the frequency of using force to make arrests and intervening in crime is remarkably low. The most Read more »