The third in a series from Adam Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: People give off plenty of indicators that they’re looking to fight. Some precursors are obvious, like the clenched fists and the readjustment of the feet into an attack stance. Others are more subtle, like the lowering of…
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Good question! And it’s answered by Ted Hesson in his good article in Fusion.net. Spoiler alert: No. Second spoiler: I’m quoted. Third spoiler: I curse (yet again).
It’s been a few months, and actually “we” didn’t get him. But he was gotten all the same. From the BBC: “Mexican police have found the body of Aquiles Gomez, who was thought to be one of the main leaders of the Knights Templar drug cartel.” We win! (for the fourteenth time and counting…) As…
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The real headline of course, the one you don’t see very often, is that crime is down. So says the BJS. Though I’m skeptical of the NCVS, since it reported a 40 percent increase in the previous two years, which, quite frankly, as I wrote, I do not believe. (The UCR showed an every-so-slight drop…
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The second in a series from Adam Plantinga’s 400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons from a Veteran Patrolman: The seriousness of a gunshot wound depends on a host of factors, including the type and caliber of round, the distance the bullet travels, and if anything is present to slow the bullet down (a wall, a…
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Occasionally, really surprisingly rarely, some crusty old cop takes an instant dislike to me because I write and teach about policing even though I wasn’t a cop for long. I’ve never pretended to have as much experience as somebody with 20 years on the job, but I still find something pathetic when a police officer…
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NYPD subdue armed mentally disturbed man. Nobody seriously hurt. That’s the headline you should read every now and then. But you rarely do. I’m not a big fan of the Taser, but this seems to me exactly what it is designed for. What’s odd, at least to me, is that here is a perfect use…
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It’s long been “known” among police that anybody with a knife or edged weapon within 21 feet is a lethal threat. This so-called “rule” has long been a big pet-peeve of mine. This anybody-within-21-feet-is-a-threat mentality does result in a lot of crazy people getting shot. And don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with…
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Best I can figure, it was invented (or at least inspired by) the Taser corporation (correct me if I’m wrong here). But it’s not a real cause of death. That being said, it’s usually used to get cops off the hood when someone dies after being Tased. But now some high guy dies and the…
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One of the things that keeps coming out of the Ferguson shooting is that Michael Brown was “unarmed.” As if “unarmed” people cannot be a threat to cop. That’s bullshit. Now I’m not talking about whether Michael Brown was or was not a threat. I do not know. But the fact that he was “unarmed”…
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