Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

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There are a lot of people, including those in our profession that don’t like to hear the phrase “War on Cops”. They feel it will promote the Us vs Them mentality and broaden the divide between the working police officer and the public they serve.

In 2014 Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown after Brown violently attacked him. That’s right, contrary to what you have heard from the media, social justice pundits and professional athletes the investigation, evidence and grand jury all agree that Darren Wilson was Michael Browns victim and that the shooting was in self-defense.

This incident sparked a year of national protest focusing on police and police brutality and the public attack against police and policing in America. 

In 2016 Heather McDonald, a Thomas W. Smith Fellow of the Manhattan Institute and a conservative political commentator wrote The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe. In this book she coined the term Ferguson Effect and detailed that affect while looking at the history of anti-police movements and decarceration activism. This really jump-started the conversation on violence against police officers.

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Police Academy is more than just a funny movie starring Steve Guttenberg from 1984. It is the basis for law enforcement across the United States and most of the world.

Police academies are training schools for recruit officers that provide the basic instruction on how to do job of a police officer. They include but are not limited to classes in firearms, physical control tactics, emergency driving, criminal law, arrest procedures, traffic stop procedures, medical skills, and emergency responses.

To get a look behind the challenges faced by police academies today I spoke with two experts in the field. Major Nick Luce of the Indiana University Police Department and Director of the Indiana University Police Academy and Lt. David Livingston the Director of the Mott Community College Law Enforcement Academy in Flint Michigan. Both had some interesting things to say regarding police academy training and how things have affected the programs over the years.

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True Crime is a genre as old as Cain and Able. OK, maybe not that old, but it’s pretty close.

The True Crime genre is a non-fiction book, magazine, pulp, podcast, movie, or TV series that examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. Murder is the crime most focused on and Serial Killers make up 40% of the True Crime genre.

Today, True Crime is not only the most in demand type of documentary, but it also almost doubles the Science documentary which is number 2 on the list.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helter_Skelter_(book)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stranger_Beside_Me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(1988_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost:_The_Child_Murders_at_Robin_Hood_Hills

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A few months into my first year on the department I attended my first in-service training class with the agency. Interview and Interrogation taught by a guy named Stan Walters. I learned a lot from Stan.

Stan Walters has spent more than 40 years studying and researching the science of interview and interrogation. He is the author of Principles of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation, 2d, ed. and The Truth About Lying: How to Spot a Lie and Protect Yourself From Deception which has been published in 7 foreign languages. He has authored numerous interview and interrogation training guides, audio programs and videos including 145+ videos on his YouTube Channel. 

Stan has regularly appeared on Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen. He has also appeared on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, Fox & Friends, NBC, France Channel One and Australia Today. He has been profiled twice on National Geographic and was host and technical advisor on the National Geographic special “The Science of Interrogation.”

In this episode we have a great chat with Stan about the process and issues involved in training and interviews.

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In this Halloween Special we hear a true story that's out of this world.

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Dispatch is one of the most important parts of the emergency management system. They are the first ones to talk to the public, they answer questions, and send help where needed. It’s also the one we tend to forget about.

To help us understand more about Dispatch and what they do I talked with Adam Timm.

Adam Timm worked as a dispatcher for LAPD for 10 years before starting his own training company “The Healthy Dispatcher” He has gone on to provide international instruction for 911 operators as well as becoming a bestselling author, writing four books on Leadership, Stress, and 911 dispatching.

https://thehealthydispatcher.com/about-us/

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I have worked with most of the federal agencies at one time or another and for the most part the individual agents were great. Dedicated professionals working hard to solve the cases. I always appreciated the resources they could bring to a case.

But the moment I had to deal with one of the “Guys in Charge” things tended to take a turn for the worst. The higher up the administrative ladder you went the ideas and goals of what you were all trying to accomplish would change very quickly.

The biggest problem is that the needs, desires, and decisions made in Washington DC do not necessarily coincide with the issues on the ground in Iowa. But that hasn’t stopped a historical push for a National Police Force and let me explain why that is NOT a good idea.

So, what is a national police force. A national police force is an organization run by the central government of a country with the purpose of providing police services such as enforcing the laws and ensuring health and safety to the people of that country. We’ve got King Louie the 14th to thank for that. In 1667 he created the first national police force in France. Since then, we have seen National Police Forces in many countries around the world. Today national police forces are common in places like France, Japan, Spain, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the Philippians, and dozens of other small countries. We also see variations on the National Police Model with Territorial Police in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Since it is so common it must be a good idea. And, when you take it at face value there does seem to be benefits from the concept. First, you get a force that is nationally funded. The deep pockets at the national level would far outweigh any small towns budgets so the national force should have all of the necessary resources. Secondly you get to control hiring and training. This way you could ensure that all of the officers are trained and ready to do their jobs. Lastly this central organization would be more efficient, and you wouldn’t have to worry about duplication of efforts. All in all, a good move, right?

Wrong?

At least for the U.S.

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In this episode of Blue Canary we talk to Jason Harney, retired LVMPD Sergeant and documentary film maker about his upcoming documentary "Wrist Lock: The Martial Arts Influence on Police Use of Force." A documentary film featuring interviews with high level martial artists from around the country, who have also served their communities as Law Enforcement Officers, as well as experts in police training, wellness, & fitness.

http://lightningdigitalentertainment.com/wrist-lock.html

Wrist Lock will be released September 20th, 2022 to Amazon and other VOD platforms.

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I thought we would have a little bit of fun this episode and break down the five best cop movies for you night owls. Back in the day you had to buy these on VHS, yes, I am that old, or DVD. But, today with streaming services you can probably find this without too much difficulty.

Before we get into the list here are a few caveats. First these are based on my personal opinion, just because I am right doesn’t mean some of you out there can’t be wrong. I am also not a professional reviewer so the things I am looking for might be very different from what you will find in any Rotten Tomatoes reviews. Finally, we have to recognize that we are reviewing Hollywood Movies.

Hollywood, you know that place that doesn’t particularly like cops and while it has made billions off our profession it never gets it right. Even in some of these movies I am going to talk about they don’t get it right. These just happen to be ones they get more right than others. And as far as political beliefs go, well let’s just say if I based my television viewing habits on political beliefs, I would start by throwing the TV out the window. Watch for fun and enjoyment.

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Michael Brown retired as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency after 32 years of service. His experience in the DEA not only involved interdiction and enforcement within the United States, but he spent a significant amount of time working in foreign countries attempting to stem the tide of drugs to the US. He is currently the Counter-Narcotics Interdiction Business Development Manager for Rigaku Analytical Devices. 

We talked about a variety of issues around the war on drugs and his experiences working in the DEA.