May 2008
Ambush! Don't let your car become your coffin
By John Farnam In the days of black powder and muzzle-loaders, soldiers referred to a surprise volley of musket fire, usually erupting from a tree line, as an “ambuscade,†from the Old High German word for forest, “busc.†You know it as an ambush. By any terminology, it’s a hellish form of attack, with intended assassins lying in wait for their quarry to blunder unaware into a prearranged kill-zone. Unfortunately, today’s law officers know this adversary tactic all too well, from bloody experience. Officers have been ambushed in patrol cars as they worked on reports or as they drove on their beats or …Read more […..]
Can You Believe This?
My name is Mary Thompson and my husband, Richard, is the Chief of Police here in Crawford, Nebraska.He’s also a father — and grandfather — who could be sent to prison for five years.All for defending himself in the line of duty against an armed and dangerous suspect!For the past seven years Richard has been the Chief of Police here in Crawford.I am worried — worried that my husband will be locked away in prison with cop-hating criminals just for doing his job!Richard was on duty when he heard thata man by the name of Jesse Britton was wanted in connection with a string of burglaries in the area.Britton had a long …Read more […..]
Dealing with mentally ill citizens on patrol
Anxiety and Mood DisordersFor most people, our normal mood is neither especially happy or sad, angry or loving, agitated or calm, but just a steady sense of what I call provisional well-being: the overall feeling that everything right now is basically okay. It’s like the feeling between meals when we’re neither hungry nor full, when in fact, we’re too preoccupied with what we’re presently doing to pay conscious attention to our digestive – or emotional – states at all. All healthy people show a range of moods, getting periodically happier, sadder, angrier, calmer and so on, in response …Read more […..]
Survival gems from the ILEETA gold mine
P1 Exclusive: Survival gems from the ILEETA gold mine Nuggets mined from the rich training lode at the recent annual conference of the International Law Enforcement Educators & Trainers Assn. (ILEETA): Deadly trends. More than 18,300 LEOs have been killed since the first line-of-duty death was recorded in the U.S. in 1792, and these deaths have spanned every hour of the day and every day of the week. During the last 10 years, though, more officers have been feloniously slain on Fridays, the least on Sundays, and more have been murdered between 8 pm and 10 pm than in any other two-hour period. Last year, domestics and traffic …Read more […..]
The New Face of Fatherhood, Mama's Home,Helicopter!
I was reading the June issue of PARENTS magazine and came across a very interesting article titled The New Face of Fatherhood. It is a great article describing the 21st-century father, a guy who proudly wears spit-up on his shoulder as a battle scar, not an embarrassing stain. The article describes how today’s father is much more involved with the care and activities of his children, especially when compared to the fathers of 30 years ago. Though their numbers are small, more guys than ever are scaling back on work or quitting altogether to help raise a family.The fathers of 30 years ago spent an average of 2.6 hours a week …Read more […..]
The Thin Blue Line
They call it the thin blue line, the line between order and chaos. As we observe National Police Week, it is proper to reflect on those who no longer stand among us on the thin blue line. I’m sure every one of us knows at least one of the names carved on those honored stones that edge the walkway “amongst the lions†at the National Police Memorial in D.C. More importantly, we knew the proud officers who bore those names and paid the ultimate price while carrying out their oath to protect and serve. While we hold those heroes up to God, we must also remember the families and friends they left behind. It is …Read more […..]
Man bragged about shooting Conn. cop
HARTFORD, CT – A 23-year-old convicted felon accused of firing one shot at a Hartford police officer outside a home on Madison Street early Sunday morning confessed immediately after he was caught, police reports show.Police say Frankie Vega told them: “If I could shoot straight, right now one of you [expletive] would be dead and I’d be happy.†Details of Vega’s confession were contained in a Hartford police arrest report that was released Monday after his arraignment in Superior Court in Hartford.Judge Carl Taylor said he found probable cause to proceed with charges of criminal attempt to commit …Read more […..]