Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) across America are hurting. Many are overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. This reality recently hit the Chicago Police Department (CPD) when two officers in the span of five days died by suicide. This comes after another CPD officer killed himself in January. Following the third suicide, Police Superintendent David Brown […]

On February 1, Lieutenant Michael Boutte of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office (MS) responded to a call for a subject attempting suicide in Necaise. Lt. Boutte was shot and critically wounded as he exited his police cruiser. He was airlifted from the scene to a New Orleans hospital, but succumbed to his wounds. The suspect […]

The capitol building overrun by rioters, police officers hurt and killed, unarmed citizens shot…. Did you ever think you’d see such chaos in our capital? I never did. While the new president and his administration will no doubt change the direction of our country, what does it mean for law enforcement? Some agencies will be greatly affected, […]

On Tuesday, December 1, 2020, at about 2:30 pm, Charleston (WV) Police Officer Cassie Johnson was dispatched for a parking complaint. Officer Johnson arrived to investigate the minor infraction and found Joshua Phillips, 38, had illegally parked his vehicle on private property. The property owner called the police to have the vehicle removed. The officer […]

The vast majority of officer-involved-shootings involve uniformed LEOs. When officers are promoted or transferred to a plainclothes unit, it’s easy to become complacent. Uniformed officers condition themselves to “turn-off” when the uniform comes off. It’s impossible to remain in “condition yellow” all the time. I recall when I was promoted to detective, it was strange […]

In 1979, I graduated from high school and began my law enforcement career as an Air Force security police officer. That’s the year Harold Preston joined the Houston (TX) PD. After my four-year enlistment, I joined the San Antonio (TX) PD in 1983. By then, Officer Preston was a four-year vet of HPD. Over our […]