The Future of Police Work is a Return to the Old Days - Reactionary not Proactive Policing

I've been reading about the police shooting and subsequent rioting in Milwaukee and all I can think to myself is "Why?"

Why is any cop, in any jurisdiction being proactive these days?

It was a traffic stop and two occupants ran from the vehicle. Screw it, let them run. Hell, why are we even enforcing traffic rules at this point anyway?

The news is not on the cop's side. They never were and certainly aren't now

Here's a link to the AP's ongoing thread on the incident in Milwaulkee. I'd like to point something out that is repeated throughout the thread:

The unrest broke out hours after an officer shot a man who police say fled a traffic stop. Police say the man was armed, but it wasn't clear if he pointed a gun at or shot at the officer. The races of the man and officer haven't been released.

Are cops supposed to be shot at before stopping the threat of someone armed with a gun? Is that where we are now as a society?

He was told to drop the firearm. He didn't. He was killed. Another black man killed by a cop. A black cop.

Doesn't matter the circumstance anymore. As a cop, you're guilty until proven innocent in a court of media sensationalism that is fanning the flames of social injustice, even when there is no injustice to be found.

If I were active, I'd be telling my officers to only respond to calls received from central. The majority of these shooting incidents are because active cops are following their instincts and interacting with a criminal element. These are the encounters most likely to go sideways, and the perp suspects you know what he did (or is going to do) and the cop most likely does not. Traffic stops are the most dangerous part of the job for the reasons I just stated. The advantage always goes to the perp.

So, stop trying to prevent crime. It's dangerous and thankless, and more likely than any other part of the job to cost one your employment, your liberty or your life.

Some Thoughts on Body Cameras for Police Officers

Let me start out by saying when I first heard of them, I was against them with all my being. The idea that every interaction with the public (and possibly even the usual banter between police officers on patrol) would be recorded was simply too much Big Brother for me.

I held that thought for a long time. Even as the NYPD was experimenting with it with a handful of cops in a half dozen patrol commands I thought no good could come of it.

I was so wrong.

It wasn't until I was knee deep in watching complaints made against police officers come in realtime did I see the value that I had missed. Overwhelmingly, complaints made against officers wearing body cameras were found to simply not be true. Maybe the complainant misremembered the incident or maybe they figured a complaint against a cop was a great way to get back at the cop that gave them a ticket or arrested them. Doesn't matter. Body cameras show what happened and let you hear what was actually said. It also keeps cops on their best behavior.

Maybe that's why the coalition that comprises Black Lives Matter wants to do away with body cameras (see demand #7 on the linked list). I would think that the truth would be an important thing to capture, but without a video and audio reference, reality isn't nearly as real as we would like to think.

It's true with cops too. We misremember things all the time, which is why we have to constantly update our activity log / memo book so that there is a written record of every job and interaction of note with the public.

When I came on the job and hit my first command, the 42 Precinct in the South Bronx, an old timer looked over my first week of activity in my memo book and told me "Kid, less is more. You write too much. You're gonna get yourself in trouble with all these details. Stop killing paper."

Body cameras make it obvious as to what went on. Good, bad, warts and all. Not just the cops' warts either. The public's too.

Body cameras. Keeping reality real.

Not the Way I Wanted to Remember My Last "Active" Day in Law Enforcement

I had lots of plans on how I was going to re-kick the Saturday Knight Special blog. Mourning the loss of yet more members of law enforcement was not it.

Three officers dead in Baton Rogue. Three others shot. Another military vet is the shooter, this time with links to the Nation of Islam.

The assasination of five officers in Dallas on July 7th was already going to change the direction of this blog, or at least add more depth to it.

It will still be stories of my time on patrol, but not just my rookie time, but later patrol time as both an officer and a sergeant. It will also touch on current events that are relevant to law enforcement. It will carry my opinion on these events and what can be done to keep us from the death spiral we appear to be on in this nation.

The angry wind that's blowing, fueled by the media and those with agendas, needs to shift. There isn't a cop in the nation that starts their tour or shift with the idea of "I want to kill someone today." The most common thought, after figuring out where and what your meal will be, is getting to the end of that tour safely. Going home to your family.

I still remember, as a newly promoted Sergeant, mentioning that my tour, the 5th one of the week, was "my last one." Jimmy, a black cop with well over 20 years on the job at the time, still carrying his six-shooter in a swivel holster, reprimanded me in his slight southern drawl.

"Sarge, your last tour is the one ya don't go home from. I ain't never gonna hear you say those words again. We clear?"

Clear as glass Jimmy.

There are 31 deaths of law enforcement officers by gunfire so far this year, an increase of 94% over the same time last year.

It's not the guns that are killing cops. Guns are certainly the method of choice, the instrument if you will, but they aren't doing the killing. Guns didn't kill 362 this year so far in Chicago or 168 this year so far in NYC. People killed them.

And those inner city deaths, you know who cares about those numbers? Not the feds. Not the media. Apparently, not the Democrats or the Republicans, Progressives or Conservatives, not the activists nor the racists. Those that care are the family members and the cops. I saw way too much death in my 20 years. Innocents and gangbangers. Cops and perps. I carry every death I witnessed with me and will continue to do so until my own passing.

Because cops do care. And bleed. And die. For you and your's.