“How does someone stay in policing for so many years and remain sane?” To have a successful and long police career there are somethings law enforcement officers should know. Former LAPD Sergeant Joseph Wambaugh has written several police novels. In one of them was a quote that stayed with me throughout my policing career. One […]

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Jeffrey Stagg has been on the job since 1977. The 67-year-old officer still works the same beat on the west-southwest part of Indianapolis he started patrolling 45 years ago. After high school, Officer Stagg joined the Air Force and served four years as a Security Police Officer. Following his discharge, he […]

In 1984, I was a rookie officer on the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD). It was a tough year for the SAPD. That year, four SAPD officers took their own lives. One was from my cadet class. I didn’t get it. And like many of my fellow officers, I asked why. Oh, we really didn’t […]

Ethan Miller showed up at a grocery store in Bend, OR to kill. On Sunday evening, August 29, the 20-year-old Miller, armed with a rifle and shotgun, randomly shot in a nearby apartment complex where he lived. He made his way to the Safeway store and continued to shoot. One witness said Miller laughed as […]

In February, Sadaat Johnson, 27, took his children for a treat. But Johnson didn’t receive the service he believed he deserved from employees at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Midvale, UT. Any reasonable person disappointed with customer service would request to speak with a manager. Johnson was not a reasonable person, and threatened employees by brandishing a pistol. […]

Recently, violence against law enforcement officers has escalated. According to ABC News, the number of officers killed by gunfire has increased 20% over last year.[1] Not only are the attacks more lethal, but many are premeditated. The surge in violence is not limited to the large metropolitan areas. Violence has reared its ugly head in small […]

The mass murder of children in Uvalde was yet another reminder of humanity’s depraved heart. On May 24th, 18-year-old Salvador Ramos murdered nineteen children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in the small Texas community. Seventeen others were wounded. Almost immediately the blame game started. Someone left a door unlocked. Someone sold Ramos a […]

Pastors and police officers have a lot in common. They deal with people going through crises. They are expected to have all the answers. They are believed to have unlimited resources at their fingertips. They are never off-duty.  On Thursday evening, March 31st, Harris County (TX) Deputy Darren Almendarez and his wife were grocery shopping in […]

In February 1983, I was deployed to north-central Alaska with the 6570th Security Police Squadron from Brooks AFB, TX for “Operation Brim Frost.” It was a joint Army-Air Force exercise to train for combat in arctic conditions. The temperature was minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit when our C-130 troop transport landed on the makeshift runway of Alaska’s […]

Crime goes up in the summer months in San Antonio. It seems the South Texas heat drives people to stupidity. Nineteen-eighty-four was my first summer as a police officer, and the first time I was assaulted on duty. Not long after checking into service, I received a call to the downtown Marriott hotel. I drove […]