By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. The story dates from the middle ages that a particular blue clothing dye from the town of Coventry, England was of such high quality that it remained true blue and did not fade. Blue has since come to represent loyalty and fidelity. Another British phrase is associated with colors Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski As a midnight-shift beat cop through the majority of my police career, I always swallowed hard when my family watched me back out of the driveway for yet another 12-hour stint securing the city in mostly darkness. If ever there was a most stalwart supporter trophy for those who stand with/behind beat Read more »
By Steve Pomper When I was in the academy, our defensive tactics (DT) instructors taught us that every physical encounter with a suspect is an armed encounter. This is because on duty police officers are always armed. It’s critical for the public to understand this. My colleague at NPA, Chief Joel Shults, recently wrote an superb Read more »
By Steve Pomper I normally prefer to be specific and provide individual’s and organizations’ names and several links to more information. However, rather than naming specific people and organizations, I will be more nebulous to better represent that this issue of officer flight affects more agencies and officers than those that continually appear in national stories. Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. Recent surveys of police officers are showing, to no one’s surprise, that stress and anxiety are hitting historic highs for our nation’s police officers. While many police leaders are taking steps to provide support for their public servants, there is no end to the challenges facing those under the Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski With all the baseless onslaught against cops nowadays, we are seeing a planet-load of examples of excellent police service countering the avalanche of naysayers who myopically view law enforcement in unfavorable terms. Anything from mowing overgrown lawns for shut-ins to changing flat tires of motorists stranded on highways to picking up and Read more »
By Steve Pomper It would be a surprise in most places, a suspect setting a police car on fire with a police officer inside it. But not when it happens in the virtually lawless city of Seattle. I take violence perpetrated against any cops seriously. But, having driven in a patrol car for more than a Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D. We can’t blame citizens for not understanding how and why police officers have to sometimes fight and even kill. Our humanity should bristle at such things. We wish we could live without the reality of those decisions. Despite our fears about violence, research shows that most humans have a Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski Pridefully, I’ve been scoping out all the latest innovations, strategic deployments, and brilliant public services being employed by our nation’s law enforcement. Not that any of this is new, only that it justly counters those barking “defund the police.” It’s not a competition; it’s a perseverance and resilience of cops to keep Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski The Virginia General Assembly (Legislature) scripted and passed two bills which would largely sideline cops’ ability to enforce traffic laws and ensure public safety, effectively signaling a relative free-for-all on roadways which will amount in otherwise preventable calamities. Virginia SB 5029 and HB 5058 are identical bills, both unambiguously rendering police personnel Read more »