One of the few benefits to come out of the Vietnam War was the acknowledgment that tough guys do cry, and that it's good for them. Unfortunately it took ten years for the Veterans Administration to recognize this and begin to set up programs to help Vietnam vets whose lives were in a shambles because of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). ...

American law enforcement is seeing a whole new phenomenon erupt in the drug enforcement business. Over the past several years the explosion of clandestine methamphetamine labs has forced us into a whole new way of thinking and the way we do our jobs. Drug enforcement in general has adapted over the years to keep up with those involved in the drug ...

Over the past couple of years courts have seen a renewed number of claims based upon allegations related to violations of the 5th Amendment self-incrimination clause as well as violations of the rule announced in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966). Two cases decided on June 28th 2004 provide some guidance for law enforcement agencies with respect to the reaches ...

Sometimes law enforcement officers who are suffering from police stress avoid seeking counseling, often for good reason (see my article "The Ugly Shrink"). But sometimes stress builds up to a point where they have an episode either of depression or panic that is so disturbing or so blatant that they reluctantly see a therapist. Often spouses convince their partners to get ...

Legal and Liability Risk Management Institute Public Agency Training Council Generally law enforcement agencies have operated their IA/OPS system with little oversight. That's coming to an end. More communities, particularly those in large urban areas, are instituting some form of external review. In some communities it's a form of civilian review. Since 1997, numerous police agencies have come under the scrutiny ...

Hypothetical: (Sergeant should use names of officers at the roll-call to emphasize the reality of such hypothetical situations): Officer Boehm, let’s suppose we have a high-speed pursuit this evening. The pursuit travels some distance and the suspect makes several aggressive actions toward police cruisers. Let’s further suppose that the suspect finally bails out of his vehicle proceeds to flee on foot. ...

In establishing reasonable suspicion to conduct the search of a student, school officials and police officers assigned to schools should provide complete details of the facts which justified their decision to search. A case from the State of Washington provides a good example of the detail which will support such a search. State of Washington v. Huff, 2004 Wash. App. LEXIS ...

Hello, and welcome back to the Chaplain’s Corner. Hang on a second while I turn the A/C down a bit. Tad warm this time of year. I’ve had this title rattling around in my head for some time now, and I think now is perhaps the time to get it out so we can look at it. I heard that…Tom over ...

Body: Hypothetical: Officer Courtney observes a subject, Mr. Eubanks, who he has reasonable suspicion, (but not probable cause), to believe has been involved in the shoplifting of a can of beer. Officer Courtney stops Eubanks. Question: Can Officer Courtney constitutionally conduct a frisk of Eubanks, for officer safety, prior to questioning him? Answer: No, not under the facts provided. Shoplifters are ...

Brant v. Volkert, 72 Fed. Appx. 463 (7th Cir. 2003). Officers are often faced with circumstances involving persons with physical disabilities. As such it is necessary to train officers for such circumstances. Mr. Brant, a paraplegic was stopped by the police while operating a three-wheeled scooter erratically and with no lights. A computer check revealed that Brant’s right to operate the ...

Welcome to the June 2009 Edition of the Chaplain’s Corner. This is one of those months when the words just don’t seem to jump out of my fingers. I’m writing my June column just days after the conclusion of Police Week and just days before I have throat surgery to regain my voice. (Everyone seems to delight in telling me how ...

In Rajaee El-Amin v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 2005 Va. LEXIS 17 (2005), the Supreme Court of Virginia considered the authority of a police officer to conduct a pat-down of a subject based upon their association with a subject found to be in possession of a firearm. While the court declined to adopt an "automatic companion" rule, the court found that the ...

h4. Description In addition to normal patrol duties, a police corporal has supervisory responsibility over other police officers and civilian personnel, if any, on his/her squad. h4. Testing Requirements None. Promotions to Corporal are generally based on experience and seniority. h4. Experience Generally, 2 to 5 years experience as a police officer with the agency the officer serves. In order to ...

Five Phases of the Active Shooter A simple view of the active shooter was developed and is being trained by Lt. Dan Marcou retired from the La Crosse, Wisconsin Police Department. He developed the program while working for the La Crosse Police Department and was able to apply the philosophy with real world success. One of the successes earned Officer Bob ...

Come on, cool weather! Oh, I mean: “Hi and welcome back to the Chaplain’s Corner.” In our part of Texas it has cooled off about 10… maybe 15 degrees. That only means that 95 now feels like 105 did. I’m about ready for it to be in the upper 70s for highs again. For the last several months I’ve kept coming ...

The polygraph community, in conjunction with therapists and probation/parole officers, has identified the following types of tests to deal with areas of concern: 1) Instant Offense Disclosure - Specific issue dealing with denial. Sex offenders frequently deny or minimize their behavior both about the index offense and past behaviors. According to Trepper & Barrett (1989) there are four types of denial ...

Hi, and welcome to the… well, I started to say “Back to School Edition,” but I guess most everyone starts back to school in August anymore. Gee…it’s been six years since I wrote “Can Anything Good Come Out of Baylor?” Well, on the 15th of August something good did…we got to watch our daughter receive her PhD diploma! Elisabeth once wrote ...

Target Audience: Law Enforcement personnel who may be faced with decisions that are impacted by the law from the United States Supreme Court. Objective: Provide officers with training on new legal standards announced by the United States Supreme Court. Format: Roll-call/ supervisory training. Time: Five to ten minutes for each of the hypothetical sections, but this may be expanded where agency ...

Any time a law enforcement officer uses deadly force, the likelihood that a lawsuit will follow is almost a certainty. Most of these lawsuits are brought in the federal courts as civil rights claims based upon the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. These actions are brought under a federal statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 which creates civil liability when ...

Hello, and welcome to the Chaplain’s Corner. I believe that God is to be revered, respected, and worshiped in keeping with His awesome majesty. But I also believe that He has a sense of humor and that He doesn’t mind if we take a light-hearted look at Bible characters as long as we’re respectful. I’d been thinking about God understanding the ...