April 2010 Blog Posts (21)

Ever since I can remember I wanted to be in Law Enforcement, as a kid I would tail girls in the malls and at the end of the day I would complete reports of my actions and theirs; I know, today that would be considered stalking. For Christmas, I wanted all the police junk; the badge, fake radios, the police belt with fake handcuffs and toy guns. We would play cops and robbers and…

"If you look like prey, you will be preyed upon," said Dave Spaulding, the 2010 Trainer of the Year, during yesterday's four-hour Handgun Combatives class at the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA) Conference.

The goal, he said, is to look fearless and to prevail. How do you train your officers to do…

What is an LEO's great need? According to Chief Jeff Chudwin, Village of Olympia Fields (Ill.) PD, it's to move from walking the edge of the knife to creating a 10-foot path that allows for maneuver, options and choices.…

“I don’t think there’s anything more offensive than our officers dying on the streets,” said Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith, as she opened her class at the seventh annual International Law Enforcement Trainers and Educators Association (ILEETA) Conference.

The class, titled “It Can Happen to You,” was focused on off-duty carry and preparedness.

“We must expect the unexpected,” says Smith. The only difference between being on duty and off duty is that when officers…

The 2010 Trainer of the Year Award is given, said Law Officer Editor in Chief Dale Stockton, “because what’s recognized is repeated.”…

As Ed Nowicki told me, "If you don’t like Suzie Sawyer, there’s something seriously wrong with you."

So lucky was I to have lunch with her this afternoon after her keynote at ILEETA.…

From, policementalhealth.blogspot.com…

You can’t hide from the internet. You can shape how people see you, and you must do this--on the internet.

“Your community is on the internet. Your criminals are on the internet. You need to be on the internet,” says attorney Frederick…

You want to be paranoid? Hang out with Peter Berghammer for an hour or two, who swears he’s not paranoid. And listening to him, you begin to believe he’s right ...

He began with an innocuous enough perception: Hackers like to share and collaborate. They fear what they perceive to be a lack of…

“We did not do this the right way,” said Chief Dan Alexander of the Boca Raton (Fla.) Police Department. “We’re better now but a lot of stuff was out of order. If you can, learn from our mistakes.”

As far as I can tell, they did everything right. Social media are fluid. What works…

Law Officer’s Facebook page has more fans now than our magazine’s circulation. That's amazing.

“When you talk about social media,” says Laurie Stevens, who organized the Smile Conference. “Cops think Facebook. It’s what most cops jump to.”…

Outside, the sun was shining. The cherry trees were blossoming. D.C. was humming with springtime vigor. Inside, cops, PIOs and investigators were learning about how to tweet. The Social Media in Law Enforcement (Smile) Conference was underway. Those folks outside didn’t know what they were missing.…

Still mourning the very recent loss of Prince George's County Maryland Police Officer Thomas Jensen who died as a result of a crash while responding to a call for service, the Washington D. C. Metropolitan region has now suffered another tragedy with the death of Montgomery County Maryland Police Officer Hector Ayala. Officer Ayala was travelling to a call to aid his fellow officers concerning a fight in progress when his cruiser crashed into a tree resulting in his…

That's an eye grabber, eh? I would have called this week's entry something like, "Stress physiology 101 for cops," but I've been told my blog name is boring and…