By Stephen Owsinski As has been stated many times before, with gobs of evidence to back it up, cops have/enjoy the front-row seat to life. The antics and hairbrained scenarios people hatch with seemingly zero forethought is enough to keep offering real-time material for the Dumbest Criminals series. Ergo… According to WFLA News Channel 8, Read more »
Month: November 2020
Young Boy Prays Over All Police Officers: ‘I Think They Are My Heroes’
By Stephen Owsinski The holiday season is without a doubt a time when people share heartfelt sentiments, gifts, and kindness in an emphasized show of solidarity with other humans. And, boy, do we need a generous sprinkling of those things in the COVID-age (with health-minded modifications, of course). 2020 has been especially rocky, and police Read more »
Why Police Prefer the TASER over Stun Guns
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. When the headline talks about police using a “stun gun”, you know the reporter doesn’t know much about the subject. While there are stunning devices on the market for both private and law enforcement use, the differences between a stun gun and a TASER used by law enforcement Read more »
‘Dear Officer: #WeNeedYou’ Cards and Letters of Gratitude Showing Up on Police Cars
By Stephen Owsinski In a topsy-turvy upended world thanks to nasty cousin COVID and nightmarish anti-police actions which keep assaulting our psyches, it is an absolute blessing to witness a series of supportive “Thank you” letters and specially printed business cards emblematic of the Thin Blue Line and the words “Dear Officer: #WeNeedYou.” Much like Read more »
Can Ingratitude Kill Democracy?
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. Thanking our police officers is more important now than ever. When we are thankful, we exercise hope. We encourage good. We expect things will get better as we celebrate what has been accomplished. When we thank a police officer for their service, we don’t have to assume there are Read more »
Bird is the Word on the Streets…and Cops are Helping Deliver
By Stephen Owsinski No, not the jail birds making fools of themselves, getting arrested, delivered to county jail. (That is a runner-up, though.) We are talking about yet another selfless deed among the myriad feats cops perform daily. With the Thanksgiving holiday nearing and the traditional turkey dinner fixings on the minds of many, some Read more »
Cops’ Free Speech Rights: Like Walking Through a Minefield—Barefoot—On Crushed Glass
By Steve Pomper A law enforcement officer’s right to free speech isn’t a matter of what an officer says as much as when and where he or she says it. It would be easy to debate the specific words Los Angeles PD Sergeant Joel Sydanmaa used on social media, that resulted in discipline, as to whether we agree with him or Read more »
What Gets Lost When Police Budgets Get Cut
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. Somewhere there may be a bloated law enforcement budget. Too many officers with nothing to do. Too much fancy equipment with no usefulness. Cobwebs growing on desk-bound paper-pushers kept around while they wait for their pension. If such a place exists it’s no place I’ve ever worked. The more Read more »
Police Chiefs – Leaders, Diplomats, and Politicians
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. While at lunch with a former police chief of mine and the county sheriff, the sheriff remarked that he needed to start campaigning for the next election. The chief chuckled. “You’re lucky that you only have to worry about your job every four years. I have to work to Read more »
Portsmouth, Virginia Police Chief Fired For—What Else? Doing Her Job
By Steve Pomper It seems like hyperbole to say there are political leaders who endorse lawlessness, as long as the crimes allowed conform to those leaders’ political beliefs. But these days, it’s not an exaggeration; it’s accurate. There was more evidence of this coming out of Portsmouth, VA., where city leaders just fired their police Read more »