By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D In September of 2024, Colorado State Patrol Corporal Tye Simcox engaged in a brief shootout with a suspect along U.S. Highway 36 in the Denver suburb of Westminster along the major route to Boulder. Simcox was parked in the center median in a marked patrol pickup truck on a Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski Everyone expects a competent, physically fit law enforcement officer to show up when they need a police response to problems they are encountering. Especially nowadays, with all the monstrous behavior thrust at cops at just about every turn (thanks to politics dipping the fuse in gasoline), first responders must sidestep frazzle, maintain Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski 3 Growing up, I remember radio stations repeatedly playing Alice Cooper bellowing the lyrics “School’s out for summer…” inviting youngsters to revel in fun under the sun, no homework necessary. America’s school resource officers (SROs) have it differently…as training is always essential in law enforcement staying abreast of new techniques and trends, Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Perhaps it is the ultimate irony that at a time when law enforcement officers are facing more stressors than ever before, the profession is finally recognizing that mental wellness is an essential component of managing a police force. We can safely say that policing is more stressful today than Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Long before the current shouts for police reform, police leaders and trainers have been considering the efficiency of basic police academy training. Since the New York City School of Pistol Practice in 1895, which grew into a more generalized policy academy by 1909, there was early opposition to the Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D We can celebrate the fact that over the past decade or so a new awareness of mental health has developed, along with greater acceptance of treatment and care. For law enforcement and other first responders, this awareness has opened doors for treatment with less stigma, although there is plenty Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski Summer break for students is segueing to back-to-school sales at retailers, marking the season when school resource officers (SROs) gear up and prep for the new semester. Given the tumultuous climate in our society, with educational institutions targeted by armed whackos harboring hatred, it is increasingly imperative for school-assigned cops to train, Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D With our gunfight-soaked entertainment media and scary assault rifle propaganda, the average citizen thinks “weapon” equals “firearm”. And among many misinformed critics even when a police officer is confronted with a firearm the officer is expected to “de-escalate”. There are some facts relevant to that perception that officers know Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D Dennis Guider Jr was recently sentenced to five years in prison for a 2021 incident that severely injured Carrol, IA Officer Patrick McCarty. Body camera footage released for the trial tells the dramatic story of what started as a traffic stop during which McCarty learned there was an arrest Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D According to biographer Beverly Gage, J. Edgar Hoover never wanted his FBI to do traditional law enforcement. He had philosophical problems with federal involvement in local affairs and wanted his agents, recruited from accountants and lawyers, to stick with non-violent federal crimes. Realizing an itch to be science-oriented and Read more »