By Steve Pomper Tuckwila, Washington Police Officers: One Last Dance at a Family Celebration (from TPD X Video) Cops don’t refer to flowcharts when handling calls for service. You know, like, if A happens, then do B, but if C happens, then don’t do D. It just doesn’t work that way. Often, cops must wing it Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D We aren’t yet a third of the way into 2024. As Springtime provides its annual renewal of hope, the season of mayhem has not abated. As of March 12, 2024, 7 law enforcement officers had been murdered by gunfire, 1 by stabbing, 1 has drowned, 4 were killed being Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski I recall my days as an adolescent when my dad used to sit for hours and listen to NYPD activities via his “scanner” whose varying “stations” were accessible with tiny shiny plastic things the size of a Chiclet (maybe smaller, thinner) called “crystals.” Our neighborhood supplier of individual chips was Radio Shack. Read more »
By Steve Pomper Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (Creative Commons Zero, Public Domain Dedication) Some people just don’t believe the rules apply to them even if ignoring those rules risks people’s lives. You think I mean criminals, right? Well, I’m a retired cop, so, yes. But I also mean the politically motivated public officials who Read more »
Indianapolis – March 15, 2024. California Assembly Bill 3038 would require each public and charter school in the state to have at least one armed school resource officer (SRO) on campus whenever students are present. Currently, California school districts can opt out of SRO programs. The bill was introduced by State Assembly Member Bill Essayli Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Every so often I think I should write something down and put it in a sealed, dated envelope. On the outside of the envelope would be the label “I Told You So”. I’m not the only one who predicted that the anti-police sentiment, the decriminalization of drug possession, and Read more »
On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the National Police Association (“NPA”) filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court in support of the petition of Illinois residents for review of the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Bevis v. City of Naperville, 85 F.4th 1175 (7th Cir. 2023). Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski It is not every day that a loved one ships out to a branch of the U.S. military, evoking bittersweet emotions stemming from what lies ahead. The same is true for police families whose loved ones sign up for the direly needed and hugely perilous profession of law enforcement to serve citizens. Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The recent criticism by a state oversight committee of a police training seminar rested largely on the teaching about suspect behavior during a police contact. The committee concluded that the techniques that would lead a police officer to believe that criminal behavior was “likely” afoot would “likely” be held Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Not all of the great technology that has been applied in law enforcement has been accessible to small agencies, and some have limited value anyway. The exception appears to be the advent of the drone. More appropriately described as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), the machines became famous in warfare Read more »