By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Like law enforcement in the USA, Canada’s police agencies are under scrutiny for actions during protests and demonstrations. Issues giving rise to our Canadian colleague’s contention with crowds include protests regarding Israel and Palestinians, environmental activism, homelessness, and cultural and political concerns among the native indigenous populations of Canada. Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski When the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) disfavors the policing methodologies of a municipal law enforcement agency, it seeks to impose a federal consent decree containing stipulations that one or more monitors oversee (overhaul) operations and ensure compliance with its conditions, leading to relative dilution of local government sovereignty. In essence, the Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski With the frequent mention of the approximate total of law enforcement officers in America —around 850,000 or so— our minds likely automatically default to projections of those cops patrolling mean streets and eyeing beats with populations aggregated in metropolis regions and inherent cacophony of bustle. But some of the nation’s cops are Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D For those who remember and for those who have studied American history the 1968 Democrat convention in Chicago was marked by violence. It was a year of upheaval in the middle of a decade of change. The 2024 Democrat convention is once again in Chicago and comparisons and cautions Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski It is not often a brand-new police academy comes into existence, but the concept grants law enforcement agencies more control of police-related instruction, in-house experienced trainers, operational preparedness, and home-based management of criminal justice doctrines instituted by state standards overseeing the regulatory feats of future public safety professionals. One of the unique Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D It’s official, drivers are getting worse and our roadways are getting more dangerous. Many states are reporting increases in fatal crashes over the past half-decade. Fatal crashes are reliably reported but do not necessarily reflect the total number of crashes, or the total number of injuries. Statistics compiled and Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D A bank robber in Missouri decided to hit small-town banks rather than bigger ones with heftier security systems and plenty of law enforcement. One town that he chose was Chilhowee, population 300, situated 20 miles from the county sheriff’s office. The town shared its one police officer with another Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D We are hearing more about response time amid the concern of police staffing shortages. The expectation of citizens that a call to 911 will immediately send a fleet of police cars screaming to your scene is more of a product of television shows and movies where the cops always Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski Some criminal cases are tough to crack, but that doesn’t mean they are forgotten. Enter Cold Case detectives who, despite dormancy, unbox investigative files and endeavor to pick up the scent by backtracking then trek the trails until on-the-lam perpetrators are held accountable. Historical whodunnits make the news across the nation, heralding Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D I was listening to an interview on a local NPR-affiliated radio broadcast about the Aurora, CO case of Elijah McClain, who died in police custody resulting in felony criminal charges for three police officers and two paramedics. The interviewer asked the attorney being interviewed why one of the officers Read more »