By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Picture this. A young police officer works a combination of night shifts rotating between straight midnights and a “power shift” from 7P-3A. He is scheduled for days off to coincide with his Army National Guard drills one weekend of every month. He was working on his master’s degree, taking Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D The headlines don’t begin to tell the story. “Bodycam Shows Gruesome Moment Fla. Sheriff’s Officer Shot”, ” Fla. deputy ends hostage standoff with career criminal holding woman at knifepoint”, “Armed Man Waiting for Officer Smokes Meth in Calif. Station Lobby”, “13-year-old opens fire several times on Fla. officers, wounding Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D In a rural Colorado county, an injured deputy pleaded for justice after suffering a life-altering crash. Deputy Scott Eckhardt, now disabled and retired, appeared at a sentencing hearing for Travis Fouch. In May of 2021, Fouch led a multi-jurisdictional pursuit along I-25 in southern Colorado and was subsequently charged Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski It has long been debated that so much more needs to be done for law enforcement officers burdened by all-seeing psyches and the accompanying stigma bottling it all within. Many among us repeat the mantra “We have to do better!” for our courageous cops who pack macabre realities deep down. Some police Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Two officers have died this year as of this writing during police helicopter operations. There were six in 2022 and one in 2020. Sixteen police officers have been killed in aircraft in the line of duty over the past decade. Although the number of officers who died in this Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D If someone were to ask for a list of law enforcement agencies and specialties, would Corrections Officer (CO) be included? Some debate whether COs are law enforcement officers (LEOs) or not. On the side of the LEO argument, the CO responds to disturbances and criminal activity, uses their presence Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D As a regular writer on police matters, I am in the crosshairs of many critics. Reactions to any pro-police piece on social media range from personal threats to insults to proud displays of the critic’s ignorance. One such comment claimed, “to shoot somebody all an officer has to do Read more »
By Steve Pomper Connecticut State Police Just saying first responders, cops and firefighters, don’t get enough credit for the risks they take seems insufficient. A throw-away line politicians use during campaigns. But a recent incident captured on Connecticut State Police (CSP) dash cam video brings to life one of these harrowing stories of the unexpected that Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski In the first few days of January 2023, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) posted a “Move Over Awareness Month” bulletin as a reminder, unsurprisingly coinciding with several more avoidable instances of fully marked police cruisers getting crinkled like accordions. Move Over Awareness campaigns are declared by different state governments in different months Read more »