People make mistakes. They do stupid things. Sometimes they make bad choices because they are down on their luck and don’t feel they have another option. But it is important to realize there is a big difference between bad people who do bad things that hurt people and good people who make an error in…

Being courageous does not mean you are not afraid. Courageous people are afraid, but fear does not stop them from confronting danger. I have been thinking about courage and danger a great deal as the first anniversary of the San Bernardino terrorist attack neared. We saw a tremendous amount of courage from the men and…

These days, there cannot be many more difficult jobs than being a cop in the United States. It’s reached such a point that in many ways, I can liken it to being a member of the military, serving overseas in a hot zone. I say that because much like in the military, we in the…

As twin bombs detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians heroically rushed into danger to save lives.  The first responders found that they were dealing with devastation on a massive scale but utilized everything available to help those that had been critically injured.  One of the…

“The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture.” -Edgar Schein As leaders of law enforcement agencies, we might well debate the accuracy of Mr. Schein’s statement as we daily face threats to the safety of people in our communities, challenges which threaten the credibility of our organization, and…

I write this as an African American male and as a retired police officer. There is so much American history that some of America wants to forget. Quite honestly, we Americans have short memories when it comes to uncomfortable reality or truth that interferes with our way of life. For instance, if I bring up…

As the crime rate continues to increase throughout California with communities feeling the effects of prison realignment and Prop. 47, law enforcement agencies across the state are challenged with finding new strategies to address community concerns. Several police agencies – including the Redlands Police Department (RPD) – appear to have found an effective strategy to…

On Saturday (September 10th), I received an email from Jim Bueermann, my boss at the National Policing Institute. The email’s subject line was succinct: “Is that you in this photo from 9/11?” I opened the email and clicked on the link Jim had provided; I watched the video, and there I was, kneeling next to…

If the past year has shown us anything, it’s that crime and terror on a major scale can happen anywhere, not just in big cities like New York or Washington D.C. There were probably a lot of Americans who had never heard of Kalamazoo, Michigan, before an Uber driver went on a killing spree in…

Current models of civilian oversight explicitly separate the roles of the community and the police in the decision-making process. In fact, most civilian oversight exists to address the consequences of decisions already made by the police. The Final Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing reinforces this separation by recommending “some form…