Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

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In this bonus episode, Steve Kellams is joined by Stephanie Samuels to discuss CopLine, a national hotline for police officers. CopLine is a completely confidential resource staffed with vetted and trained retired police officers. If you’re a law enforcement officer looking for someone to talk to about the pressures of the job, visit https://www.copline.org/ or call 1-800-COPLINE.

Resources Discussed: 

• CopLine: https://www.copline.org/

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

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We spend a lot of time training officers on how to handle “things”–the concrete skills needed to do the job every day: physical tactics, firearms use, traffic stops, and domestic violence response. 

What we don’t do well is prepare them for the mental and emotional impact a career in law enforcement brings. 

In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by Stephanie Samuels, a psychotherapist and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder expert focused on issues in law enforcement, and Shaun Tieman, a former cop turned CrossFit expert and advocate. They break down the mental challenges facing officers and how they’re combating mental illness and supporting those on the front lines.

Resources Discussed: 

• Copline: https://www.copline.org/
• Hoosier CrossFit: https://hoosierathleticclub.com/

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

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The decentralized and local-based policing across the United States has its advantages. Yet, it means each community has a different type of police force with varying focuses. 

Why the differences across departments? 

Politics. And politics is the dirtiest word in policing.

In this episode, Steve Kellams breaks down why, and how front-line patrol officers receive backlash for the policies they are ordered to enforce.

Resources Discussed: 

• https://video.foxnews.com/v/6151671000001#sp=show-clips
• https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=3243941932496834&ref=watch_permalink
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX51VkEn24M

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

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Police reform is all over the news, yet, no one discusses what happens once the offending officers are identified. This episode will give you an inside look into the internal affairs investigation process with guest Lou Reiter.

Lou was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1961 to 1981, when he retired as Deputy Chief of Police. During his twenty-year career, he served as a uniformed officer, an instructor, and an Internal Affairs Officer. He’s since become a sought-after expert with published works on police reform issues ranging from complaints of misconduct to discipline.

As you’ll hear in this conversation, the call for police reform is nothing new, and this episode digs into the reasons it periodically resurfaces. Listen as Lou shares what may be different this time around.

Resources Discussed: 

• Broken Badges: Cases from Police Internal Affairs Files by Lou Reiter
• Shattered Badges: More Cases from Police Internal Affairs Files by Lou Reiter
• Where Is Law Enforcement Heading These Days? by Lou Reiter
• Police Union vs. Police Administration by Lou Reiter

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:  

• Agency360: https://agency360.com

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It was a cool autumn night when the call went out. A woman called 911 claiming her ex-husband was trying to kill her. In this bonus episode, find out what happened when Steve and his partner arrived on the scene.

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

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When you work on the police force in a small city with nearly 50,000 university students, you get a lot of experience with civil disorder. As we’ve seen this year, this disorder can often turn into a riot.

In this episode, host Steve Kellams shares his experiences dealing with riots on the Indiana University campus and the lessons he’s learned along the way. He’ll examine the different types of riots, break down the various elements present in each one, and discuss the impact of police response to a volatile situation. 

Resources Discussed: 

• https://www.cnn.com/2000/US/09/11/knight.protest/
• https://bluelivesmatter.blue/oregon-sheriffs-refuse-to-comply-with-governors-call-to-send-deputies-to-portland/
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KtkjF-9UMqWN-S4YPF1QMAgGXGtjizAn/view 
• https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/24/portlands-protests-three-months-in-no-end-in-sight/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_riots

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:  

• Agency360: https://agency360.com

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As you watch what’s happening in the news, do you ever wonder how we got here? As a society? As an industry?

Joining this episode is Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a US Army Ranger, paratrooper, and former West Point Psychology Professor. Since  retiring  from the military in 1998, he travels the country as one of the leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations.

On this episode, Dave joins host Steve Kellams to answer these questions and offers encouragement to the men and women putting on a police uniform every day.

Resources Discussed: 

• https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=7
• https://reason.com/2019/06/25/u-s-cops-are-facing-a-recruitment-crisis-will-it-force-them-to-change-their-ways/
• https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2218&context=masters-theses
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/arts/television/protests-fictional-cops.html
  
  

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The need for good police officers is higher than ever. Yet, recruiting is down 85% across the country. In this episode, Steve digs into the contributing factors while sharing creative ways to encourage a new generation of applicants. 

Resources Discussed: 

• https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=7
• https://reason.com/2019/06/25/u-s-cops-are-facing-a-recruitment-crisis-will-it-force-them-to-change-their-ways/
• https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2218&context=masters-theses
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/arts/television/protests-fictional-cops.html

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On April 11, 1986 in Miami, Florida a FBI Unit 55 is sitting across from a bank on South Dixie Highway, FBI agents Jake Hanlon and Ed Mireles are drinking coffee and shooting the breeze. Nothing different from hundreds of other stakeouts. “Attention All Units!” breaks out over the radio. The ensuing gunfight between 8 FBI agents and 2 heavily armed and military trained robbery suspects would dramatically change, not only the FBI, but all of law enforcement.

Ed Mireles joins the show to share his story from this historical date.

Resources Discussed: 

• Mireles, Edmundo and Elizabeth, FBI Miami Firefight: Five Minutes that Changed the Bureau, Edmundo Mireles, 2018
• Guinn, Jeff, Going Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Simon and Schuster, 2009
• https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/patty-hearst
• https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-north-hollywood-shootout-revisited-20170223-htmlstory.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/09/us/dallas-police-shooting.html
  
  

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:  

• Agency360: https://agency360.com/

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When reform needs to happen, often, those in law enforcement aren't given seats at the table. It can feel like the experience and expertise we have accumulated are disregarded. Why is that? In this episode, we explore all the reasons and how the understanding of what profession means can make an impact. 

As a professional in law enforcement, it's clear that change is taking place. While reform needs to happen, the question is, who should be leading this charge? Find out on Blue Canary while gaining a deeper appreciation of how law enforcement should be defined to enable us to make real change happen. 

Resources Discussed: 

• 300, Dir. Zack Snyder, Legendary Pictures, 2006
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profession
• Potter, Gary, The History of Policing in the United States, Part 1
• Walker, Samuel, The Police in America: An Introduction, New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
• Zacks, Richard, Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York, Anchor, 2012
• Grann, David, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, Vintage, Random House LLC, 2017
• Guinn, Jeff, Going Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Simon and Schuster, 2009

This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By: 

• Agency360: https://agency360.com/