Policing Matters

Are there too many specialized positions in LE?

A few weeks ago, an article called "The 'SWAT nod': How to tell other cops what your duty assignment is without saying a word" ran on PoliceOne. It was essentially a list of how to make it clear to everyone in your department (as well as any other department) what your duty assignment is. In this week's podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss when it makes sense (and when it doesn't) for departments to have specialists like SWAT, Motors, Narcotics, Foot Beats, Bicycle Patrol, Marine Units, Equine Units, and the like.

Officer discretion and contempt of cop

On July 26th, a nurse in Utah named Alex Wubbels was arrested for refusing to draw blood from an unconscious patient who had suffered severe injuries from a car crash. Wubbels argued that she wouldn't allow the blood to be drawn unless the man was under arrest or there was a police warrant. This was despite the fact that Section 1.3 of the Utah Commercial Driver’s License Handbook states that “If you operate a CMV [commercial vehicle], you shall be deemed to have given your consent to alcohol testing.” The video of the incident sparked a national outcry. In this week’s podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the balance between enforcing the law and falling prey to the “contempt of cop” trap some subjects will set.

Will the Vegas attack change large scale event security?

From a corner suite on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, a 64-year-old gunman — whose name merits no mention in this space — unleashed a hail of gunfire on an innocent crowd of 22,000 people attending a county music festival. He fired on the crowd for roughly ten minutes, killing at least 58 and injuring 527 others. In this week's podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss what we know so far, and what the tragedy means for the future.

Urban Shield and the 1033 program reinstatement

Urban Shield is one of the largest training exercises for police, firefighters, and paramedics in the country. Started several years after the September 11 attacks, it is designed to prepare first responders for a host of potential threats to public safety. But the event has drawn criticism over the years from activists who say police training is too militaristic. In this week’s podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the ways in which Urban Shield improves inter-agency communication and preparation for response to everything from a natural disasters to a terrorist attack.

Should the cash-bail system be discontinued?

In 2013, researchers from the Arnold Foundation studied 153,000 bookings into Kentucky jails over a two year period and found that the longer low-risk defendants were held in jail the more likely they were to engage in criminal activity. Now, we have to separate correlation from causation — we cannot go leaping to the conclusion that if-this-then-that. However, there has been some criticism that the cash-bail system disproportionately affects lower-income individuals, and that it makes no sense to decide whether someone should be held in jail awaiting trial based solely on how much money they have. In this podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss the movement in recent years to discontinue the cash-bail system at least for offenders who are evaluated to be low-risk of flight or reoffending.

How to ‘harden the target‘ against ambush attacks

Ambush attacks on police officers are undeniably on the rise in the United States. In 2016 alone, at least 20 officers were fatally shot in ambush attacks. In this week's podcast segment, Jim and Doug discuss some of the ways in which officers can "harden the target" and prevent such tragedy from befalling them on patrol.

Vigilantes, bounty hunters, and neighborhood watchmen

We all remember the story of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, but there have been other less-famous incidents in which non-sworn personnel attempted to do the work of a sworn law officer that resulted in unintended and unwanted consequences. Vigilantes are criminals and should be prosecuted as such, but where do people like bounty hunters and neighborhood watchmen fit into the mix? In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug discuss the upsides and the downsides of these well-meaning but potentially dangerous individuals and groups.

The best cop shows in TV history

There have been dozens of terrible police procedurals, but we've had some good cop shows too. That list includes Southland, Streets of San Francisco, Hill Street Blues, Barney Miller, and The Wire. What are the best cop shows in television history? What makes those good shows good? In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug go to Hollywood and talk about their favorites. Add your favorites in the comments section below - movies too, if you want.

How crowd control tactics need to evolve as protests turn increasingly violent

A white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in mid-August left a 32-year-old woman dead and nearly two dozen other people injured when a deranged white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters. There were other violent clashes in the streets that saw too little separation between the opposing factions. At the time of this recording session, there is a far-right rally planned in of all places, San Francisco. The city is organizing a “block party” to give the opposing side a place to gather. It’s nearly five miles away. Whether or not the rally in the City by the Bay is kept peaceful, law enforcement must continue to develop new ways to deal with the threat. In this week’s podcast, Jim and Doug discuss how crowd control is changing.

What cops should do 5 years prior to retirement

Because cops have a tendency to retire at a younger age than people in other careers, a cop pulling the pin on a 30-year career is likely to have a second career in mind. Lay the groundwork for that next phase of your working life, whether it’s consulting with a LE-related vendor, establishing your own training company, or working as a criminal justice professor. In this week's podcast, Jim and Doug discuss how to lay the foundation for a long and enjoyable retirement.