A MOST MEMORABLE PURSUIT
PROLOGUE Recently Lt. Chuck Smith and I were sitting on my front deck watching Oregon’s Umpqua River flow by, shooting suppressed weapons, killing some brain cells and generally swapping lies when one of us said, in best ‘Harry Callahan’ fashion: “So...tell us about your best felony arrest.” Since neither of us could remember ever having made a felony arrest (I said we were lying!), the subject changed to “Tell us about the most interesting [...]
Teacher Or Instructor
Which Are You? Look back to your youth and ponder your school days. Did you have teachers you admired, who made the learning process fun and exciting? Could you see their passion for the subject and did they pass it on you? I did. Now think of the teachers you [...]
Play – Or Pay
Some month’s back, I authored a column entitled “Cops and the Current Administration” (Jan/Feb 2012). It suggested supporting an administration, which frequently acts in a manner inconsistent with the US Constitution, is not in our profession’s best interests. I received a substantial amount of reader feedback … but no one [...]
Everyone Gets A Ticket Today
Ever had this happen — or worse yet, said it yourself? You break line-up or roll call and an officer says, “That’s it, I’m in a bad mood; everyone gets a ticket today, and I’m not cutting anyone any slack.” I’m embarrassed to say I did say that very thing [...]
Loose Lips Sink Ships
In this day and age where so much information is instantaneously lobbed onto the internet, it’s no wonder the spin doctors have a hard time keeping up. We even have cell providers boasting their speeds, whether 3G, 4G or OMG are so much better than the other guy — who’s [...]
Border Violence Intensifies
Those of us who’ve worked in jurisdictions adjacent to our nation’s border with Mexico are not nearly as shocked as most people at the escalating drug cartel-related violence, which has spilled onto US soil in recent months. Actually, that sort of thing has been occurring for a number of years [...]
Pedal Cars
I have a grainy black and white photo of me when I was about five. I’m driving a pedal car made to look like a tow truck. I vividly remember that truck; it might even be the cause of my life-long affection for trucks of all sorts. I remember it [...]
What Happened To Uniformity?
I recently received a press release announcing the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in Washington, DC has modified its uniform rules to accommodate religious practices. Specifically, the rules were changed to allow people of the Sikh religion to “maintain their articles of faith while serving as full-time cops.” The articles MPD [...]
Who Pays For PTSD?
A reader asked me to comment on the Albuquerque, N.M. Police Association’s (APA) practice of giving sums of cash to officers involved in shootings or other traumatic incidents. These payments, averaging several hundred dollars each, are given almost immediately after the incident involving an officer. The media has seized on [...]
Graveyard Cops
What Other Government Agency Will Even Answer Their Phone, Much Less Send Someone To Your Door At Midnight? If you’re new to police work, you’ve probably been working your unfair share of graveyard shifts. It’s part-and-parcel of your new career, and you have to pay your dues — even in [...]
Will You Do It?
I’ve known anti-gun cops, who seriously said things like, ‘They have no right to own a gun, it’s my job to protect them. If they have guns, it’s just a danger to me!’ I like to think my “real” job is as the editor of our sister publication, American Handgunner [...]