Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

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On this episode of Blue Canary we speak to Jim Bontrager, Chaplain and President-Elect of the International Conference of Police Chaplains about the role of police chaplains and their affect on officers and agencies.

Jim Bontrager is the Senior Chaplain with the Elkhart, IN Police Department and founder of Warrior on the Wall Ministries.  Jim speaks at Law Enforcement conferences, retreats and conducts LE/ Chaplain training around the country.  He holds his Master Chaplain credentials with the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC) and serves as their Indiana State Representative. He is a certified law enforcement instructor with the State of Indiana and the ICPC, and serves full-time as Senior Chaplain with the Elkhart (IN) Police Department. Jim serves as a national board member with the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers USA and spearheads a 24+ year national outreach to strengthen law enforcement families.

He is the 2012 recipient of the Wilbert A. Cunningham Award for excellence in law enforcement chaplaincy (IN) and a 2013 recipient of an Excellence in Leadership Award from Pointman Leadership Institute. He's the  the 2016 recipient of the Richard S. Kassel Award and was appointed a Sagamore of the Wabash by Indiana Governor Mike Pence in 2015. 

http://www.warrioronthewall.org/home.html

https://www.thecorneliusproject.com/

http://www.icpc4cops.org/

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“What the hell do I do with these Millennials?”

That has to be one of the most common questions I get in my classes. Trainers and supervisors across the country are struggling to relate and deal with the millennial police officer. Well, I’ve got bad news for you. The millennials have been here for awhile and they’re not going away.

Generational Studies have been one of the go-to area of social science for a while now. With terms like the Lost Generation, The Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Millennials we have been inundated with studies and research defining people based solely on when they were born.

Many supervisors and leaders in law enforcement have been in the profession for a bit. Some of your higher-ranking officers will find themselves in their 40s and are struggling to engage with the brand new 21-year-old officer. Having heard the terms bandied about they think that any officer younger than them must be a millennial. But let’s get our definitions right before we dig into behavior.

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George Floyd should not have died in police custody. The actions taken by Derek Chauvin were reprehensible and universally condemned by law enforcement. George Floyd was a victim of police misconduct. But he was not a hero. 

In this episode we will discuss the Robin Hood Effect, where criminals are labeled heroes. From the 1300's to today society has a penchant for proclaiming the good guy bad, and the bad guy good. It's not new, or even unusual, but we need to understand it and the severe problems it can cause.

The Robin Hood Effect is when people start viewing those who act out against society as the heroes and those who traditionally protect society as the villains. There are several common factors we have seen in this phenomenon. 

The Outlaw is typically seen as a victim of injustice from the government.

The Outlaw is seen as a common harmless person of good intent.

The Outlaw is sacrificing his life for a political stance.

These outlaws turned heroes become very important to political, social, or economic causes and their “fight” is generally taken up by others.

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In this episode of Blue Canary we speak to jail expert Jeff Carter about the challenges of housing mentally ill prisoners.

Jeff retired December 2018 as the Deputy Director of the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Over his 20-year career, he has worked all levels of custody inside a 1,300-bed correctional facility located in the horse racing capitol of the world. Jeff was an instructor for 5 years inside the academy, where he trained over 700 recruits, molding them into successful leaders in the Corrections field. He has trained and commanded the CERT team, as well as taught Drill and Ceremony to the Division Honor guard. While promoting through the ranks, he commanded the Professional Standards Unit where he specialized in Internal Affairs investigations and Gang Intel for 7 years. Jeff completed over 200 administrative investigations, as well as, conducted over 100 PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) investigations. He is well versed in PREA and is a PREA Investigator Instructor. Jeff has completed the top Leadership Academies at the National Institute of Corrections in Aurora, Colorado. He brings experience from proudly serving 4 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, followed by obtaining his BS degree in Corrections and Juvenile Services/Political Science from Eastern Kentucky University, through his career as a Corrections Leader. Jeff was a Certified Deputy Coroner within the Commonwealth of Kentucky for 8 years. He presents jail training throughout the country and serves as an Expert Witness around the United States, focusing on jail litigation. 

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"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine." That quote by Lord Byron explains why cops love comedy. We love to laugh, and to play pranks, sometimes at the most inappropriate times. Mostly because it helps us heal. Vinnie Montez comes on this episode of Blue Canary to discuss his journey into comedy and why we should all take a few minutes everyday and laugh.

You can find information about Vinnie and where he will be performing at his website, https://www.vinniemontez.com/ also following him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/vinniemontezcomedy

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Police officers are frequently described as "Highly Trained", but that couldn't be further from the truth. Police are often expected to handle extremely confusing, difficult, and dangerous situations with little or no training. The true miracle is that the police manage to get it right a vast majority of the time.

In this episode of Blue Canary we are going to take a look at police training. How much they get, and why even that is not enough. We will also discuss the problems agencies have the providing the necessary training to their officers and how they might be able to overcome these training deficiencies.

Show Notes for The Myth of the Highly Trained Police Officer

https://www.foxnews.com/media/jocko-willink-why-police-officers-need-far-more-training

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL5RzI5LyVc&t=4s

https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/slleta13.pdf

https://ij.org/report/license-work-2/ltw-occupation-profiles/ltw2-barber/

https://tucson.com/law-enforcement-training-hours-by-state/table_6d1fa6d6-c3db-11e6-a719-df90e359ec68.html

https://www.in.gov/ilea/2330.htm

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.156

https://www.isomitigation.com/ppc/fsrs/

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In the season two premier of Blue Canary, Steve Kellams interviews a police applicant and gets an idea of what the next generation of police officer candidates are looking for in  a career.

They talk about everything from reasons to becoming a police officer to the current defund the police movements and how these things affect the applicants thought process.

Are you interested in what the next generation is looking for from a department?

Curious if any of your potential police hires have attended anti-police rallies?

Want to know how prevalent drug usage is with the new police candidates?

This episode answers those questions and more.

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Season 2 is almost here. Subscribe to Blue Canary and don't miss an episode.

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It’s the 21st century, so why is technology in law enforcement practically stuck in the Dark Ages? Even if departments are starting to adopt new technologies, the mindset behind it is often just a digitized version of an analog process, with no automation or innovation to make the job more efficient. If cops are going to do their jobs and serve their communities better, they need tech solutions designed for that purpose.

In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by former cop and current programmer and friend of Blue Canary, Matt Molter, Founder and President of Agency360. Together, they break down their experiences with technology on the job and how the future of tech in law enforcement needs to evolve.

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:
Agency360: https://agency360.com

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As officers, we love our families, and they’re a big part of why we do the job. Yet, we often forget how our profession impacts the lives of our family members. We go to great lengths to help cops cope with the long hours and high-stress environment, but how do the spouses manage?

In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by three cop wives who have agreed to discuss their experiences anonymously. They vulnerably share how the job’s stresses affect them and their children.

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:
Agency360: https://agency360.com