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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
By Stephen Owsinski No matter where one lives, the chances of Mother Nature throwing a curveball or two here and there are inescapable. With her hands on the joysticks, inclement weather consisting of icy snow or unstoppable hurricanes or intense heat causing consternation for Smokey the Bear…Mother Nature’s elemental pedigree and planetary diversity poses often Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. Joe Biden still says he is a proponent of community policing, even when surrounded by voices advocating defunding of the police. If his proposal to increase funding for community policing comes to fruition, what will that look like? What community policing looks like is still an open question. A Read more »