By Stephen Owsinski The first half of today’s title of this article is credited to the fine folks at the Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association, of which the union staff and service members simulated the heroic efforts of first responders, weighted down by duty gear, who unhesitatingly scaled thousands of steps to save lives impacted Read more »
Police Life
Before the Badge: From Nursing Hospital Patients to Tending to Inmates
By Stephen Owsinski When we hear or read about first responders, nurses are sometimes mentioned. They are at the ER doors when ambulances roll in with exigent cases requiring triage amid gory and graphic realities. Registered nurses tend to patients before an ER physician broadens the charts. Some patients are inconsolable and feisty, engendering de-escalation Read more »
Mobile Law Enforcement Ministry Consoles Cops in Crisis on Frontlines
By Stephen Owsinski Similar to the Chicago-based Light the Line’s mobile wellness unit responding to cops in the field of operations and tending to their needs, the National Law Enforcement Ministry’s mobile service is staffed by former officers who are police chaplains going to locales where first responders are grieving the loss of police lives, Read more »
Lasting Impressions About First Responders
By Stephen Owsinski First responders race to myriad calls for service, meet an array of different people, and help manage unspeakable circumstances the day of the tragic incident and well beyond, helping victims/ surviving loved ones cope a bit better…circling back to ensure everything is mended as best possible. Albeit without expectation, cops receive gratitude Read more »
Before the Badge: Meager Means…Until His ‘Calling’ to be a Cop Comes to Fruition
By Stephen Owsinski As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a policeman. I trace it back to around age six-ish, daily observing NYPD cops patrolling the neighborhood, tacitly envisioning myself in a blue uniform, helping others through tough times and dire circumstances. Achieving my childhood dream took me far longer Read more »
Gallows (Dark) Humor: Does it Benefit or Hinder Law Enforcement Officers
By Stephen Owsinski I recently wrote about a cop I know who was fired for something he didn’t do, due to out-of-context reporting and by disregarding the officer’s intent, which brought two controversial issues to mind. The realities of police empathy and gallows humor. While some people believe every cop should treat every person as Read more »
Searching for Certainty
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Recent attention has been paid to the problem of uncertainty in training physicians. A study cited in a publication of the National Institutes of Health shows that uncertainty is one of the major stressors for medical students and practitioners. The foundational principle of “first do no harm” in the Read more »
Threats to Cops, Naturally
By Stephen Owsinski The sheer aspects of law enforcement officers patrolling public spaces mean inclement weather, from snow to hurricanes to blistering heat, automatically poses threats by natural means, for which salvation is not necessarily easily attainable. How many careers are there whereby living in a barrel (body armor) is an imperative norm? America’s cops Read more »
When a Star is Born: Birthdays of Badges
By Stephen Owsinski How old is your county sheriff’s office or city police department and what was the seed that spawned its beginnings? Nostalgia has its value, especially in law enforcement where the pace rockets at a pretty good clip, swiftly progressing, hardly affording any time to look back. That’s modern-day society for ya! But Read more »
Gunsmoke
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Although not officially, scientifically proven I am convinced that a good part of the current anti-police sentiment in some sectors of the population comes from the indoctrination of the public in the mythology of lethal encounters portrayed in fictional media. It’s always clear who the bad guy is. The Read more »