Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

That's a Wrap. In 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic I decided to start this podcast. I had just retired and started full time teaching and consulting when the world came to a grinding halt. The podcast was a way to fill that void. To scratch my teaching itch and to share what I had learned in 30 years of working as a cop. I couldn’t be more happy with the results. Over the last four years I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and sharing information about this amazing profession. I want to thank all of you that came along with me for the ride. Thank you for listening, sharing, and subscribing. This wraps up Season 4 of Blue Canary, a season where I focused on the War on Cops. But, this podcast experiment is far from over. I will be taking a few months off to get everything ready to go for next season, and I think it’s going to be a good one. Season 5 of Blue Canary is going to focus on leadership. You see, we don’t have a cop problem in the US, we have a cop leadership problem, one that seems to get worse every day. And it’s not just the big bosses, no, it’s a problem that starts with the frontline sergeants. I am going to interview all levels of police leaders and talk about the issues and problems facing police leadership. I am going to talk to researchers and experts in leadership, and I am going to share my own experiences as a formal police leader for 17 years. I think you will find next season fascinating. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss an episode. Look for the new season in the spring of 2024. Until then, everybody be careful out there.

In 2022 Rafael Mangual a senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research published his book Criminal (In)Justice. If your profession revolves around the criminal justice system then this is a must-read book. Using extensive studies and documentation Mangual takes the fight to the decarceration and depolicing narrative. He quickly and succinctly destroys the concept of defunding the police. Criminal (In)Justice points out that the defund police movement fundamentally does not understand the causes of crime. They believe that by transferring funds away from the police and putting those funds into non law enforcement services such as social work the cycle of crime will be broken and crime will decline. However, the facts and studies prove the opposite. In 2020 the United States saw more than 21,000 murders which accounted for a 30 percent increase over 2019 and the biggest year-over-year increase on record. His book goes on to state: The year 2020 was preceded by a decade-long trend of Increasingly vitriolic expressions of anti-police rhetoric in the media and academia. Decarceration (between 2009 and 2019, the country’s imprisonment rate declined 17 percent) De-policing (during the same period, arrest declined by more than 25 percent, going from more than 13.6 million to just over 10 million, while the number of full-time police officers working American cities went from about 452,000 in 2009 down to 443,000 in 2019. He hits you with these numbers in the first 22 pages of the book. It only gets better from there. https://manhattan.institute/book/criminal-injustice https://manhattan.institute/article/hardening-the-system-three-commonsense-measures-to-help-keep-crime-at-bay https://www.wthr.com/article/news/crime/impd-arrests-suspect-ramming-police-car-same-man-police-shot-february-george-leachman-indianapolis-indiana-trial-bond/531-3e8ab206-de34-45ae-9e4c-41cd43ccc305 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-23/washington-dc-mayor-wants-to-reverse-police-reforms-amid-violent-crime-spike

Rick Snyder started in law enforcement over 27 years ago and continues to serve on a major metropolitan police department. Rick is the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 86 and also serves as the National FOP Chaplain. Rick has been vocal about the issues involving police reform for many years and I was pleased to have an opportunity to talk to Rick about the state of policing and the war on cops. Rick had so much more to say, but do to technical difficulties and schedule conflicts we had to postpone the second part of the interview. Don’t worry though, Rick will be back on and we will dig deeper into the issues at a later date because that’s the story we have to tell.

This is our fourth annual Halloween Special and it's a doozy. Ever had one of those creepy encounters that just set the hair on the back of your neck straight up. Usually we just move on and forget about them, but sometimes they can really spook you. In this episode we hear the real true story of a creepy conversation that took a dark turn quickly. Dim the lights and settle in for another true Halloween story.

Jeff Schemmer is a longtime friend and colleague of mine. He is also an expert on the 911 system. Jeff began working in the 911 community thirty-five years ago as a dispatcher with the Bloomington Indiana Police Department. After the 1998 consolidation of dispatch services with BPD and Monroe County Sheriff's Office, he continued to serve as a dispatcher, training coordinator and Communications Manager until 2019, when he accepted the position of Executive Director with Hamilton County Public Safety Communications. In 2022 Jeff was selected to be the Executive Director of the Indiana Statewide 911 Board. I had the pleasure of talking with Jeff about 911 telecommunicators and the challenges dispatchers face everyday.

There isn’t an easy answer to the origin of the black mourning band. The use of black clothing to show that the wearer is in mourning for the loss of a loved one, can be traced all the way back to ancient Rome, where the traditional white toga would be replaced with a black toga pulla. Over the centuries and in various cultures white and black have battled it out for dominance as the prevailing color for mourning however in the 14th century, Christian Churches had made the wearing of black at funerals a common custom. the 19th-century artist and professor F. Edward Hulme, explained the color black at funerals showed “the spiritual darkness of the soul unillumined by the Sun of righteousness.” By the 14th century, it was widely associated with death. What arguably set the color black aside for funerals was its expense. To get the deep dark color of black required multiple rounds of dyeing. Black clothing simply cost more than other colors and funerals; specifically important funerals were theater in the day. It was an opportunity to show off, make a political statement, and impress your peers and commoners alike. As Katie Thornton of the Atlantic put it; Funerals were the red carpets of the early modern era. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth the First in 1603 solidified black as the color of mourning. While black has become a more common color over the years and much less expensive it still has a historical connection with death and to this day is the most common color associated with mourning. While the wealthy and political were trying to one-up each other in the black clothing department the military found itself with a conundrum. Early military uniforms were colorful. The bright clothing helped differentiate the fighters on the battlefield. It helped build cohesion and recognition on the smoke-filled landscape. Uniforms were at their most glorious during the Napoleonic era in Europe. Bright colors, gold buttons and ribbons, silver braids and polished leather. The uniforms were intended to display authority, power, status, and glamor. They were everything but black. To allow for proper mourning while still wearing the uniform of the day the black armband as adopted. By adding a black armband to the uniform, the wearer was able to convey the appropriate honor and respect for the deceased while still being gloriously appointed in the dress uniform of the day. The black armband was quickly adopted by anyone who had a specific uniform to wear during the funeral rights. We still see the black armband worn today by sports teams wishing to show their respect of a lost member or important person. For law enforcement the practice of wearing a black armband quickly morphed into wearing a black band over the officer’s badge. Today it is common practice for law enforcement officers to wear a black band over the badge to pay respects to fellow officers who died in the line of duty.

Kathleen Dias isn’t a cop, but her husband was and the experiences he faced everyday as a rural police officer made her want to write about the issues faced by rural officers in America. She began studying, writing, and researching topics important to rural officers and speaking out against the Mayberry perceptions that most people have of the job. Not only does Kathleen write a column for police one dot com but she has also starting tracking rural officers who are assaulted and killed in the line of duty. Having read her articles for years I was very happy to have an opportunity to talk to Kathleen about her championing the rural officer. In this episode of Blue Canary, Kathleen and I talk about topics that impact rural officers a little differently than their counterparts in the urban areas. Things like officer safety, training, equipment, and de-escalation.

During my 3 years as the Administrative Captain, I hired 43 police officers. 43 in three years. That number becomes amazing when you realize that my department was only allowed 100 cops at maximum staffing. 43% turnover in 3 years. Sadly, only in policing can you get away with that. If I were to address the board of directors for a company and told them that employee turnover was 43%, I probably wouldn’t have my job for very long. But in policing that’s not uncommon. If you add in corrections officers, you will see that number rise even higher. The question we should be asking ourselves is why? Why is turnover so high? Why are officers leaving like crazy? And, what can we do to stop it? Administrations made that bad decision to ignore their employees and only focus on the applicants. But, it’s not too late to change that. It’s time that agencies realize that if I am retaining my proven employees, I don’t need to worry about hiring as many new ones. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/entire-minnesota-police-department-resigns-due-issues-pay-rcna100008 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/12/15/a-small-indiana-town-doesnt-have-a-police-force-because-all-its-officers-just-quit/ https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/us/north-carolina-police-resign-black-city-manager-reaj/index.html https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2021-06-29/police-salaries-are-rising-in-departments-across-the-us

I will never forget some advice given to me by one of my FTOs. “Write it down. Write something down everyday and at then end of your career you’ll have a best-selling novel. You’ll never have to work again.” Unfortunately, my rookie self wasn’t smart enough to take him up on his advice. I never wrote it down and because of that so many stories have slipped through the cracks. Glenn Topping is someone who did write those things down and because of that he has gone on to write six novels. His first book “Look, a Quarter” details his journey from the military police to joining a Florida Sheriff’s department to finally retiring and becoming a novelist. Glenn has a unique perspective of law enforcement having being involved at so many levels and in so many specialties over his more than 30-year career. And on top of all that, he was on the first season of COPS.

In this episode we will look at the terms typically used to define the police, warriors and guardians. Where did these terms come from and why have they become so divisive within our profession. Warrior, Guardians, and Cops.

Officer involved shootings are some of the most difficult and important internal investigations you will ever be a part of. Making sure they are done properly at all levels is critically important to the officers involved, the agency, and the community. To talk about this topic as well as other issues involving internal affairs, I had the pleasure of speaking with Marlon Marrache. Marlon retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after 25 years of service. During his 15 years as a Sergeant, he successfully completed an assignment in Internal Affairs as an Associate Advocate conducting Board of Rights Hearings, as well as being assigned to the Officer Representation Section defending police officers.

Demotivation is simply a lack of interest and motivation at your work. It doesn’t seem like a big deal; I mean everyone gets a little demotivated at work. You slack off a little, spend some extra time at the water cooler or on a smoke break, and once the weekend kicks in you get a little rest and relaxation before you’re better next week. That’s not what’s going on in policing. Demotivation is more than just a little frustration at the workplace. In policing it’s one of the things destroying are profession. Demotivation is a tool used by the anti-police movement to further their agenda and destroy policing as we know it in the United States. Today, moral and motivation in policing is clearly under attack and that attack is spearheaded by six issues. ACAB Hollywood Politics Work Environment Job Expectations And the destruction of the tribe. Some of these things I have talked about before, but let’s take a few minutes and look at each one and see how together they are so destructive.

Today’s policing is more dangerous than ever. Staying sharp and following proper professional and tactical procedures is the key to staying alive and I couldn’t think of a better guest to talk to about this topic than Scott Savage. Scott Savage began his career in public safety at age 19, first as an E.M.T and then as a licensed paramedic working in a busy emergency medical system. In 1999, he became a police officer with the Palo Alto Police Department in California where he worked assignments including Patrol, Narcotics, and SWAT. Scott has spent the last seven years with Palo Alto PD as a Sergeant, where I served as the Incident Commander for critical incidents and regularly supervised the police response to in-progress situations. After a great career with Palo Alto PD, he joined the Santa Clara Police Department (CA) as an Officer and continues to serve there today. In 2019 Scott founded the Savage Training Group which provides high quality law enforcement training across the United States.

There are a lot of people, including those in our profession that don’t like to hear the phrase “War on Cops”. They feel it will promote the Us vs Them mentality and broaden the divide between the working police officer and the public they serve. In 2014 Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown after Brown violently attacked him. That’s right, contrary to what you have heard from the media, social justice pundits and professional athletes the investigation, evidence and grand jury all agree that Darren Wilson was Michael Browns victim and that the shooting was in self-defense. This incident sparked a year of national protest focusing on police and police brutality and the public attack against police and policing in America. In 2016 Heather McDonald, a Thomas W. Smith Fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a conservative political commentator wrote The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe. In this book she coined the term Ferguson Effect and detailed that affect while looking at the history of anti-police movements and decarceration activism. This really jump-started the conversation on violence against police officers.

Police Academy is more than just a funny movie starring Steve Guttenberg from 1984. It is the basis for law enforcement across the United States and most of the world. Police academies are training schools for recruit officers that provide the basic instruction on how to do job of a police officer. They include but are not limited to classes in firearms, physical control tactics, emergency driving, criminal law, arrest procedures, traffic stop procedures, medical skills, and emergency responses. To get a look behind the challenges faced by police academies today I spoke with two experts in the field. Major Nick Luce of the Indiana University Police Department and Director of the Indiana University Police Academy and Lt. David Livingston the Director of the Mott Community College Law Enforcement Academy in Flint Michigan. Both had some interesting things to say regarding police academy training and how things have affected the programs over the years.

True Crime is a genre as old as Cain and Able. OK, maybe not that old, but it’s pretty close. The True Crime genre is a non-fiction book, magazine, pulp, podcast, movie, or TV series that examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. Murder is the crime most focused on and Serial Killers make up 40% of the True Crime genre. Today, True Crime is not only the most in demand type of documentary, but it also almost doubles the Science documentary which is number 2 on the list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_Beside_Me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(1988_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost:_The_Child_Murders_at_Robin_Hood_Hills

A few months into my first year on the department I attended my first in-service training class with the agency. Interview and Interrogation taught by a guy named Stan Walters. I learned a lot from Stan. Stan Walters has spent more than 40 years studying and researching the science of interview and interrogation. He is the author of Principles of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation, 2d, ed. and The Truth About Lying: How to Spot a Lie and Protect Yourself From Deception which has been published in 7 foreign languages. He has authored numerous interview and interrogation training guides, audio programs and videos including 145+ videos on his YouTube Channel. Stan has regularly appeared on Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen. He has also appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, Fox & Friends, NBC, France Channel One and Australia Today. He has been profiled twice on National Geographic and was host and technical advisor on the National Geographic special “The Science of Interrogation.” In this episode we have a great chat with Stan about the process and issues involved in training and interviews.

In this Halloween Special we hear a true story that's out of this world.

Dispatch is one of the most important parts of the emergency management system. They are the first ones to talk to the public, they answer questions, and send help where needed. It’s also the one we tend to forget about. To help us understand more about Dispatch and what they do I talked with Adam Timm. Adam Timm worked as a dispatcher for LAPD for 10 years before starting his own training company “The Healthy Dispatcher” He has gone on to provide international instruction for 911 operators as well as becoming a bestselling author, writing four books on Leadership, Stress, and 911 dispatching. https://thehealthydispatcher.com/about-us/

I have worked with most of the federal agencies at one time or another and for the most part the individual agents were great. Dedicated professionals working hard to solve the cases. I always appreciated the resources they could bring to a case. But the moment I had to deal with one of the “Guys in Charge” things tended to take a turn for the worst. The higher up the administrative ladder you went the ideas and goals of what you were all trying to accomplish would change very quickly. The biggest problem is that the needs, desires, and decisions made in Washington DC do not necessarily coincide with the issues on the ground in Iowa. But that hasn’t stopped a historical push for a National Police Force and let me explain why that is NOT a good idea. So, what is a national police force. A national police force is an organization run by the central government of a country with the purpose of providing police services such as enforcing the laws and ensuring health and safety to the people of that country. We’ve got King Louie the 14th to thank for that. In 1667 he created the first national police force in France. Since then, we have seen National Police Forces in many countries around the world. Today national police forces are common in places like France, Japan, Spain, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the Philippians, and dozens of other small countries. We also see variations on the National Police Model with Territorial Police in the United Kingdom and Canada. Since it is so common it must be a good idea. And, when you take it at face value there does seem to be benefits from the concept. First, you get a force that is nationally funded. The deep pockets at the national level would far outweigh any small towns budgets so the national force should have all of the necessary resources. Secondly you get to control hiring and training. This way you could ensure that all of the officers are trained and ready to do their jobs. Lastly this central organization would be more efficient, and you wouldn’t have to worry about duplication of efforts. All in all, a good move, right? Wrong? At least for the U.S.