Carl Chinn had a chip on his shoulder against law enforcement officers. Although a Christian, officers just rubbed him the wrong way. That attitude changed in 1996 the day he and three others were held at gunpoint by a deranged man who threatened to blow up the Focus on the Family building and everyone inside. […]

“Suicide by cop” is a term used by law enforcement officers to describe a person who threatens to use deadly force against the officer or another to goad an officer to shoot, thus committing suicide by provoking the officer to pull the trigger. Occasionally, the threat is made with a toy gun the officer believes […]

In the January newsletter I mentioned that there were 148 law enforcement line-of-duty deaths in 2018. But line-of-duty deaths are not the only reason officers don’t live as long as the general population. A recent news article caught my eye, “Police suicides rising, union says media vilification is ‘leading cause of despair’”.[1] The article says, […]

The Strong Blue Line Great news, the trip to Sacramento is a go! On January 9th, I’ll be speaking to several officers from the Sacramento area who have been involved in shootings. Each officer will receive a copy of Winning a Gunfight. This is the first trip of 2019 that promises to be one of […]

The Strong Blue Line “I gotta go handle a call, I love you; I’ll talk to you later.” The 54-year-old Ventura County Sherriff’s sergeant didn’t tell his wife the nature of the call on the evening of November 7th. It was for shots fired at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, CA. Three […]

The Strong Blue Line Over the summer I met a police chaplain from California and gave her a copy of Winning a Gunfight. Earlier this fall, she called to say she was counseling an officer who was experiencing emotional difficulties after recently being in his third gunfight. The chaplain said, “We almost lost him. I […]

The Strong Blue Line This year’s travel schedule found me in Billings, MT (a couple of times). On one of those occasions I noticed a large private bus outside the hotel where I was staying. A quick inspection revealed that it belonged to a band from New Braunfels, TX. New Braunfels is close to where […]

The Strong Blue Line What a busy summer it has been—both in ministry and with the family! Immediately following the chaplains’ training in Lexington last month, I drove from Kentucky to Arkansas where I met up with Sherry. Her family is from Arkansas and we spent time catching up with them, some of which I […]

The Strong Blue Line Lexington, Kentucky was the site of the Annual Training Seminar (ATS) for the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC). It was held at the Rupp Arena…no kin! The ICPC is an international, organization made up of chaplains and liaison officers from different faith groups and law enforcement agencies that offers professional […]

The Strong Blue Line On November 26, 2017, off-duty Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) Captain Michael Howell went to Costco to do some shopping. Little did he know that he was going to come face-to-face with Ronald Hunt, who went to that same Costco to do some killing. Howell was inside when Hunt entered the […]