Stupid is as stupid does. Sometimes crooks shoot themselves in the foot, no pun intended. Check out the hilarious lineup of actual crimes committed by inept thieves. Isn't it nice when they do the dirty work for you? Stealing... from a Surveillance Store? → [page] Stealing... from a Surveillance Store? Feisty Store Manager Fights Back → [page] Feisty Store Manager ...

The Presentation of the Colors is perhaps the most common assignment most honor guards perform each year. It is also one of the best opportunities you have to project a professional, polished image of your department to a large and varied segment of your community. You and your team inspire feelings of patriotism and pride in observers every time you present ...

*Report Writing* “Saw drunk, arrested same”. For those of us who are “seasoned” enough to remember the J. D. “Buck” Savage parodies, none is more poignant to report writing than Officer Savage reading his “it’s all there” DWI report in criminal court (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJbuyC9KaJg). That’s right; those four words represented his entire police report. *Painful Memories* As a former Field Training Officer ...

Well, it might not be…but it sure is one of the fastest bits of shooting I’ve ever seen. [gate] I ran across this video this weekend to pick up some tips on shooting drills and was blown away at how fast Kyle Lamb can push lead through these targets. Kit Up! readers might remember my attempt at this drill last year ...

When average people are asked about nonverbal communication, most will mention eye contact. The eyes are considered "the windows of the soul" and The Eagles warned that, "you can't hide your lying eyes." When Judge Judy detects possible deception, she admonishes the witness to look her in the eyes. Effective communicators learn not only how to read the meaning of another ...

As an experienced police officer, think of your last trip to the firearms range.  There was almost certainly a target for you to hit with a clear x ring, bull's eye, or some other marker that represented a perfect performance.  You utilized a firearm in which you had been trained and therefore had familiarity with the actions that you needed to ...

If you read the world news headlines it's easy to find articles about terrorist acts being committed in other countries and how the specific country's military responded. This is a common theme all around the world. Terrorist group commits act - country's selected military unit responds. Why is that? Because terrorists commit acts of violence that are, for all intents and ...

There is a natural order to the world and there is a natural order to oral board preparation. With rare exceptions, we advance in police positions one step at a time. This series of articles (the first one was “The Sergeant’s Oral Board: Preparing to be #1”) represents the progression of responsibilities that each law enforcement position holds and the corresponding ...

In the wake of the recent Broward County Sheriff’s Office’s transportation deputy’s death here in Florida, I thought an article on transportation mandates would be in order. For some, these bullet points will be an eye opener. For others, they may serve as reminders of things told to you by your academy instructors and your field training officer (FTO). Many of ...

_In order of least to most severe_ *1. Officer's Presence & Demeanor* p((. Open Stance, Ready Stance, Defensive Stance. Body language = 55% of communication. *2. Verbal Control* p((. Search talk, persuasion, light control (advice), heavy control (orders). Words & commands = 7%; Voice and inflection = 38% *3. Physical Control* p((. Escort holds, Pain/ pressure compliance, passive counter measures, active ...

Often questions arise as to whether a police officer needs a search warrant in order to search a motor vehicle. Fortunately, the Supreme Court of the United States has a fairly extensive body of law commonly called the “automobile exception” or the Carroll Doctrine which gives clear direction to police officers on this topic. However, individual states, in interpreting their state ...

Prison violence is global, with prison authorities waging a constant battle to deny inmates access to improvised weapons. Despite the most stringent measures, weapons are still found often in the most unlikely places, made from even more unlikely materials. Whether stolen from factories, kitchens, workshops, art classes, pried from cell fittings or simply from articles left unattended, inmates with time on ...

The prospect of firearms training in the pressure-filled law enforcement academy setting is either loved or hated by cadets. Few blocks of instruction, save for physical training and defensive tactics, conjures up such extremes in emotion. As a certified firearms instructor and an executive over basic police academies, I have seen first hand the issues that trip up aspiring gun-toting law ...

A few years ago I stayed up late one night to watch a bad Arnold movie on TV. It didn’t finish until midnight. I closed up the house and put the dog out in the garage prior to going to bed. While I was in the garage I heard sounds coming from outside. I could have opened the garage door but ...

Most police officers and deputy sheriffs are honorable men and women trying to do a difficult job. I regularly deal with law enforcement issues that involve law enforcers in bad circumstances. Whether they are in fact responsible for an act involving intent or omission, many officers, particularly those at the beginning of their careers, are baffled by the process that most ...

I know that size does matter because an attractive waitress once told me so. At the time I think that we were talking about the size of the dinner plate that my meal was being served on, but I’m not sure. I do suspect that she was not talking about a peace officer trying to conceal a pistol under their clothing. ...

Whether you have a shared patrol car or a take-home unit, almost every officer, deputy sheriff, and trooper I know checks over their car and its equipment before the shift. After all, this is your mobile office. You need it to do your job and its smooth operation may even save your life one day. Some agencies mandate the inspection in ...

"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General Patton Like most cops, I was seriously angered when I heard about a certain Ex-Cop and how he had gone from being a police officer to teaching criminals how to smuggle dope. It doesn't matter where you're from, a traitor is a traitor. And a traitor has no friends, ...

Back in the end of 2006 I was presented with an opportunity to do something I had already had in the back of my head: Create a useful, fun, and educational online community for law enforcement officers. I was surprised to see how popular PoliceLink became in such a short period of time. Over the past four years I’ve met more ...

Over the past few decades, the emergence of novels and movies such as “The Silence of the Lambs” has created the image in the public’s eyes of profilers being superhuman men and women capable of ungodly leaps of almost psychic intuition which lead to the magical capture of the villain. While (unfortunately) no such person exists, the science of criminal offender ...