It was not Shakespeare who said “Opinions are like assh#les, everybody’s got one.” However, when it comes to getting the COVID vaccine or not, that quote beats anything old Will ever uttered. For it is so true. Everybody’s got an opinion whether or not to get vaccinated. So whom do you believe after cutting through all the bluster, hype, propaganda and obfuscation? We decided to go with Dr. Andrew Dennis. Andrew is the head trauma surgeon at Chicago’s busiest trauma hospital. He is also a cop, a member of two Northern Illinois SWAT teams and medical director for the Illinois State Police. He was the technical director for NBC TVs, Chicago Med, and he is a technical advisor for In the Line of Duty. I wanted to get Andrew’s thoughts about the fact that a sizeable number of law enforcement officers to date have chosen NOT to get the vaccination to which he responded that both he and his wife, who is also a doctor were among the first to roll up their sleeves and get jabbed. Continue reading To Vaccinate or Not, that is the Question! | Police Podcast
Have You Ever Tried ‘Compassionate Policing’? | Police Podcast
You may have seen the photo a few years ago. In it, a Colorado officer is holding a two year-old little girl on his shoulder by the side of the road and pointing up to the heavens. He is also singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ to her as he diverts her attention away from the horror going on behind them as first responders extricate her mom, dad, and siblings from a terrible crash. Mom and sis were airlifted to an area hospital. Two other children were removed by ambulance. Dad, however, didn’t make it.
Officer Nick Struck’s act of compassion via that photograph went viral and worldwide.
“When, uh, when I was out in the field, I was singing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and pointing to the lights on the fire truck. And she put her arm around my shoulder, just like my daughter does. And that’s really when the emotion starts kicking in, in that moment, having that little girl in my arms. Yeah. She fit exactly like my daughter did. And you know, one of the things with my daughter is, uh, I always want to encourage her and uplift her and make sure that, uh, she’s always built up. And so for that little girl that I was holding, that’s really the goal because I want her to be protected as much as possible from what had just happened, this horrific accident. And so when I was talking to her, she wasn’t really responding back to me. So then I went to my singing skills, which are not the best and definitely not Barry White by any means, but I started singing it to her and you know, it just kept going on and on, and that seemed to work. So, you know, when it works, you just keep doing it.” Continue reading Have You Ever Tried ‘Compassionate Policing’? | Police Podcast
I Can’t Breathe; Don’t Just Sit There with Your Head Up Your… | Police Podcast
Of all the words spoken in 2020, perhaps none had more impact on police…and policing than just three…I can’t breathe. When George Floyd was heard multiple times exclaiming, he couldn’t breathe, it was to start a national anal exam of law enforcement tactics that resonates to this day…and has taken on a life of its own. What we found when producing our training program “I Can’t Breathe–or Can I?” was collective agreement among our technical advisors, whether it’s a subject declaring he or she can’t breathe during a stop or arrest, or I’m having chest pains. I have COPD, my pacemaker is effed up, or fill in all the health utterances possible, officers have absolutely positively got deal with it. In fact, retired Sergeant Herb Hood, a Line of Duty technical adviser, 33 year law enforcement veteran, former Cincinnati officer of the year puts it very bluntly: Continue reading I Can’t Breathe; Don’t Just Sit There with Your Head Up Your… | Police Podcast
The Nashville Effect | Police Podcast
I’m about to give the entire law enforcement world a gift…special tip of the hat to the Metro Nashville Police Department. Wherever you’re listening, be it Ireland, England, Hong Kong, Manila, Wales…I’m wrapping this present to you in a bow. On Christmas day, 2020, a bomber drove a white van to the AT&T building in downtown Nashville and announced over a loud speaker in the van that there would be an explosion in 15 minutes.
Don Aaron has been the Metro Nashville PD spokesman for forever. He said after police got an ominous report shortly after six Christmas morning:
“An officer responded and after assessing the vehicle had reason to call our hazardous devices unit. The hazardous devices unit was in route to the downtown area when an explosion linked to that vehicle took place at 6:30.”
This is was what it sounded like because this is actual audio of the explosion. Continue reading The Nashville Effect | Police Podcast
The Tale of the Great Kitty Cat Caper | Police Podcast
I would bet that you– like me– have never heard of the Great Kitty Cat Caper. But you’re about to, and here’s how it all started.
One of the nation’s most decorated ex-cops and a Line of Duty technical advisor, Randy Sutton, told me that 90% of the officers he talks to, and he talks to many of them, tell him their biggest concerns are not what they face on the streets, but rather the fiery hoops from hell they endure from their own chieftains and administrations. What got Randy into a multi-year doghouse himself all began when, as a Sergeant with the Las Vegas Metro PD, he decided to go public with his displeasure over a new sheriff in town.
“For, for seven years. Uh, I was put in what was called the Metro dungeon, which meant that I faced the wrath of the machine. I have no, there’s no reason for me to make up any stories here, but it was open warfare on Randy.”
Ultimately culminating in what? Continue reading The Tale of the Great Kitty Cat Caper | Police Podcast