By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D As they say in the South, “bless their hearts”. What we used to call soft on crime is now mental health awareness, racial justice, and criminal justice reform. In Colorado, Governor Polis signed legislation to reduce penalties for some offenses. Former Colorado prosecutor George Brauchler pointed out in a Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski It bears repeating that traffic stops are absolutely one of the most dangerous for any law enforcement officer Anywhere USA, from fictional Mayberry RFD to stark reality streets of New York City. In a phantom-like way, every motorist stopped by police can very well be monstrous, even murderous, as we’ve seen in Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects a person’s ability to think, feel, and behave clearly. It is a diagnosis assigned to an individual with the requisite symptoms and behavior. In a broader sense, the description can fit some leadership styles and group behavior. Can you imagine working under a Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Discussions about the roles of policing that might be shifted to non-law enforcement are very important. A recent survey of officers and civilians showed that the majority of police officers and civilians have confidence in law enforcement responding to mental health crisis calls. While there is also significant support Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D If the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 passes the United States Senate and is signed into law by the President, American law enforcement will slip from the hands of local voters. The creeping federalization of law enforcement by the dangling of grant money and threats of Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D It has been said that even the paranoid have real enemies. In an era where any theory that focuses on the loss of freedoms is labeled as a conspiracy theory, rational considerations in interpreting current events can be lost. Let’s begin with the real views on differing theories of Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The ludicrous commentary by celebrities about recent officer-involved shootings is an extreme example of the lack of knowledge of physics and human capacity as it relates to officer decision-making. The same tired arguments and misunderstandings have been going on for years. Some common topics arise when lay persons talk Read more »
By Steve Pomper It’s hard to believe, but the NPA began covering Blackwell Police Department Lt. John Mitchell’s hellish odyssey in early December 2019. What’s more difficult to believe is the reporting stemmed from an incident that occurred in May 2019. But the hardest thing to believe is nearly two years later, in April 2021, Lt. Read more »
By Steve Pomper With all the rioting going on over the past year and continuing, perhaps it’s time to learn something you might not know about the issues cops deal with during while on demonstration management lines. What is it like for an average police officer? Now, there is no way that any single police officer Read more »
