I received a heartfelt letter from a concerned police officer's wife. She was experiencing her what, for want of a better term, could be called spouse's police stress. Her husband had policed far more than his share of critical incidents, including accidents where numerous children were killed. He was withdrawing from her and questioning his belief in God. Why, in essence, ...

Police stress and corrections stress arises from two basic causes: the stress intrinsic to the job, and the stress associated with poor or even negligent management. In the former instances, officers may be reluctant to open up to police stress peer counselors (sometimes called "stress officers") because they are concerned about their confidences being shared with management. This concern is heightened ...

I arrived at C.O.P.S. Spouses’ Retreat the weekend of September 18-21, 2009, at the YMCA Trout Lodge in Potosi, Missouri, after only one month as the Marketing Coordinator for Concerns of Police Survivors. I knew the organization dealt with death, dying, and grief; yet I was not prepared for what I saw. I was instantly introduced to a young widow who ...

It's been a rough few years for America as a whole, but the public service sector has felt it the most. As budget cuts continue to cut jobs, it’s more important than ever to get the most bang for your buck. And there’s no question about it — when it comes to value, not every U.S. city is created equally for ...

“That’s the way we’ve always done it” It's an all too common answer to a rookie officer’s inquiries about policy, procedure, and unfortunately, even officer survival. An “artifact” is defined by Webster’s as “something in a biological specimen that is not present naturally but has been introduced or produced during a procedure,” and we have plenty of artifacts in police work ...

It’s been the age-old question: how do you deal with the opposite sex. In today’s litigation-laden law enforcement environment, law enforcement professionals struggle to answer that question as they discharge their duties. This column details steps that you can take to ensure your tactical and legal survival. While false allegations can come from same sex police contacts, particularly with juveniles, complaints ...

We have all had the experience where a person tells us something in private that he never would have told us in a public setting. It is well accepted that it is easier to talk about sensitive matters with only a single person present. Yet, how many times are victims interviewed in the presence of a family member, or a witness ...

I admit it, I love knives. There are just so many cool ones out there, it’s hard to choose. But while most us crimefighters carry a knife of some sort, many of us have never trained – mentally or physically – to use our knives as anything more than a basic utility tool. Here are a few things to think about ...

Looking for some free publicity for your training company or services? Become a PoliceLink training partner. PoliceLink is the Internet's number one resource for America's law enforcement officers who come here to keep up to date on the latest training techniques and tactics. Our Training Partner Program was designed specifically to engage training companies and consultants from across the country to ...

Hey folks, lets support this and get it to become a reality. Copy this and sign it stating your support for it and fax it to ALL of your US Congressmen, US Senators, LE Agencies, FOP's and Police h4. Police Officers Death and Disability Act As Americans of the United States, we pride ourselves on the fact that we are a ...

Handling death notifications is a necessary part of the job that few law enforcement officers enjoy. It can be traumatic for the officer, as well as for the family members. Delivering a death message is a duty that is vitally important with far-reaching ramifications in people's lives. Handled poorly, extreme situations can develop. Family members and others advised of the passing ...

The officers of PoliceLink's Facebook fan page share the best speeding excuses they've heard while on patrol. Check out this collection of real tales from the street and the hilarious things no one should be dumb enough to say. See The List >> Tips for the PoliceEntrance Exam Target AcademyFirearms Training Mastering thePolice Oral Board [gate] [page] You see officer; we ...

Target Audience: Law Enforcement personnel who may be faced with the task of legal decisions relating to operations. Objective: Provide officers with essential knowledge of the law as announced by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2005-2006 term (NOTE: See previous issue for additional cases) . Format: Roll-call/ supervisory training. Time: Five to ten minutes, but this may be expanded where ...

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 ...

Need a break from patrolling the hot city pavement? Does your idea of a vacation involve taking in the great outdoors, and days of heart-pounding adventure? We thought so. PoliceLink has compiled 20 adrenaline-inducing adventures for the tried and true outdoorsman (or woman). We’ve scoured the travel guides, combed the Internet and sought out word-of-mouth recommendations to bring you the ...

There was a time when an eager officer longing for more training opportunities could blame the training request denial on not being one of the “golden children” of the administration in power. With the advent of the economic downturn and a new era for law enforcement budgeting, denials have become the norm, rather than the exception. Training for law enforcers has ...

Police officers not only must be able to recognize abnormal behavior and mentally ill persons, but also must be prepared to guard, restrain, or take into custody people whose behavior suggests the presence of a mental illness. The following are suggestions for handling these difficult situations. **1. Calls involving known emotionally disturbed individuals should be answered by more than one officer.** ...

Having described the types of behaviors and techniques associated with riot behavior, both group and individual, it is now important to discuss those techniques that law enforcement must employ if it is to successfully contain and control this behavior. Like the individual and group activities that are a part of riot behavior, riot control involves actions both by the individual police ...

It has taken a while for me to write this in response to numerous requests from police and fire dispatchers because, frankly, I've never been a dispatcher myself. So I had to do a lot of thinking about what dispatchers have told me about their own experiences with police stress, and my own experiences at the other end of the radio. ...

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 ...