Yet another from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. My friend Dan gave me aline about people showing up for court “in their best sweatpants.” That always stuck with me. Many defendants dress casually, even for felony trials. The collared shirt is a rarity. Most wear what they might don to watch Saturday morning cartoons,…
Tag: police culture
On Youth
More from Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. Cynicism in law enforcement is wide-spread and to some degree, self-perpetuating. But sometimes you strive for optimism. You try to picture many of the juvenile criminals you deal with years later, as adults, having turned it around. One day you’d run into them and they’d be healthy…
Use of Force
I’m out of the country for a week. So here’s another bit of insight (the 11th) from Adam Plantinga’s most excellent 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman. The general public doesn’t always understand use of force dynamics in police work. Maybe it’s unreasonable to expect them to. Police departments do what they can to explain them,…
“It’s hard to keep caring”
A good police perspectivefrom Lt Danie Furseth. I think his points are good… but I seriously doubt this is some contemporary perspective that wouldn’t have been valid 10, 20, 50, or 150 years ago. And, since I can’t say it better myself, I will quote my friend and colleague John DeCarlo: I have tried to share articles which describe the…
Free Doug Williams!
The Feds are really out to get the man who tells the truth about lie detector tests, that they’re bullshit. They’ve been out to get him for a while, as I’ve previously written. Here’s the thing, Willam’s may or may not be guilty as charged. Honestly, he probably is. From the Journal: Prosecutors alleged that Mr. Williams “trained an individual…
Strike against cop cameras
When I was cop, boy did I joke about things I wouldn’t want seen on youtube. It might be a tad overgenerous to say what I said were even jokes. But I laughed. I still do. When I get a message on my answering machine that says, “Pete, will you stop touching little boys and pick up the phone!” I…
The Felony Rush
The tenth and perhaps last in a series from Sgt. Adam Plantinga’s excellent 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: Once the fleeing vehicle has finally come to a halt, your training dictates that you then conduct a high risk stop. You park your squad car in a position of tactical advantage and order the occupants out…
Paperwork
The ninth in a series from Sgt. Adam Plantinga’s excellent 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: Most critical incidents you’re involved in take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes to resolve themselves. The paperwork that follows takes hours. You’ve got the incident report, the clearance report, the inventory forms, the DA sheets, the…
Why Hassaum McFarlan Matters (or what liberals don’t understand)
Imagine you’re a New York City Police Officer. You take pride in your job and serving the city. You work hard. You play by the rules. You also feel you don’t get enough respect for what you do. And that disrespect comes right from the top. De Blasio gets elected mayor. You believe, perhaps correctly, that the mayor neither understands…
Everywhere signs
The eighth in a series from Sgt. Adam Plantinga’s excellent 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: Police stations are papered in signs. Some offer guidance, like the one that says: In the absence of detailed instruction, please do the right thing. Others suggest a certain approach to life like the large No Sniveling placard. There are…