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 »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D It’s the oldest debate of our democracy: when does a citizen’s behavior merit government control? When it comes to protests and gatherings the Constitution clearly protects speech and the freedom to assemble. With that right comes the responsibility to do so peacefully, or if the intention is to engage Read more »
By Stephen Owsinski With the ever-burgeoning illegal immigrants disregarding our southern border, U.S. Border Patrol agents have ample dangerous activities on their plates, thanks to the present White House administration’s anemic stance on buttoning up the borders. The throngs of immigrants trekking across unkind terrain to enter America illegally, falling ill along the way, are Read more »
By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D America’s law enforcement field training officers (FTO) are among the most important components of professionalism in policing. One could reasonably argue that the FTO exceeds the importance of basic academy training. The academy may be the backbone and skeleton of a police career, but those first weeks of supervision Read more »