Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.

Send us Fan Mail

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.