The Trouble with The Cops

The trouble with "The Cops" is that there's no such thing.

The term implies that US law enforcement is a homogeneous monolith, a single,blue entity recruited from the same population, trained the same way, paid at the same levels,
performing the same functions, and governed everywhere by the same laws and policies.

Nothing could be further from the truth.
And, unlike most topics, the Gordian knot of modern policing becomes more intricate the more you learn.

When a citizenry is already frustrated, partly because their only frame of reference for The Cops is the last TV show they watched (or a dimly remembered Civics class in high school), how do you explain that words they use don't even mean what they think they mean?
(You may go now, Inigo Montoya.)

Just look at 'sheriff'.
It's so traditional an office that cliches are built around it (there's a new sheriff in town!),
songs are written about it (I shot the sheriff...), and people who pretty much hate all other forms of law enforcement build romantic fictions around it.

It should be easy, then, to define 'sheriff'.
Everyone knows what they do.
Except, they don't.

No, Mr. Sovereign, the Olde English shire reeve wasn't your hero. He was an appointed judge and tax collector, answerable only to the king.
It gets more complicated from there.

In some states, sheriffs and their deputies have full police powers throughout the state, and consistent, mandated standards of training.
Those states (sometimes) also require that candidates for sheriff be POST-certified officers in their own right.

There are places (hi, Virginia!) where all you need to run for sheriff is to be a county resident, and registered to vote.
There are states with no sheriffs (Alaska, Connecticut, and Hawaii....although Hawaii has deputy sheriffs. So,that's weird.)
There are places where sheriffs don't investigate crimes--Pennsylvania, for instance--and states where each county decides whether or not to have one.
Los Alamos, NM, still has a sheriff, just one without significant police powers. The sheriff serves process and keeps track of sex offenders, mostly. Last fall, the position was nearly abolished by the city council who see little point in preserving it, when effective law enforcement authority has been delegated to the police department.

In New York, each county has an elected sheriff.
New York City, though, has one sheriff appointed by the mayor, who performs mostly civil and fiscal functions, with criminal investigation limited to matters of fraud.

Confused yet?
Try understanding what a constable is. Or does. Or doesn't, for that matter.

Texas constables are fully sworn and trained peace officers ; they are elected, and their deputies are also sworn and certified. They work alongside police and sheriffs, all with slightly different responsibilities, but more or less the same authority.
In Pennsylvania , constables occupy a grey area, elected and self-employed. Their compensation is the fees they collect for the warrants and civil process they serve. They're required to have 80 hours of training, a little more if they carry a weapon. The depth and breadth of their authority is a constant source of disagreement within the state's law enforcement communities.

*Pennsylvania state constable*

In other states--Kentucky, Massachusetts, and so on--constables are variously elected, appointed, trained, untrained, regarded as law enforcement, process servers, or filling roles other states manage with reserve officers, or CSOs.
California abolished the office of constable in the 90s, when it consolidated the courts.

A police officer may be one of thousands in an agency with state of the art everything, or they may be volunteers with a day job, in a village patrolled solely by reserves. Their authority may end at the city limits, or not till the state line.
In some states, city governments choose between a police chief, or marshal.
In others, marshals provide court security and civil process.
Or, all those offices may be filled by the sheriff's department.

It just depends.
It's confusing.

And if it's still a learning curve for me, part of a blue family for decades, who sits in on conversations with officers from across this country and at least two others, how much more so is it for teachers, and nurses, payroll clerks and Piggly Wiggly night stock help?

US citizens are highly resistant to far-reaching national standards, for anything.
For law enforcement, that insistence on local control (and therefore, local funding) means that officers from agencies that require college degrees and train constantly, make headlines right alongside officers working where they may be hitting the streets solo weeks, or months, before ever attending an academy.


When every single state---sometimes every county, or city--sets its own standards for certifying, training and hiring its officers, there has to be an understanding that The Cops are as diverse as the nation itself.

Somehow (I'm going with too much TV, again), news readers acquired the idea that every officer in a uniform should be a SWAT-trained, ninja marksman with a law degree.
That's not realistic, of course, or reasonable.

In a nation this fractious and individualistic, there's never going to be a case for a cookie-cutter cop.
I do believe there's a case for professionalism, at every level, and in every state, no matter what the uniform looks like, or what's written on a badge.

Ultimately, that's the decision that needs to be made:
How do we define a law enforcement professional?
I don't know if we can agree what it means to hire, to train, to compensate, to equip and retain professional law enforcement at every level.
I do know that if it can be achieved, the differences between The Cops won't matter.
There still won't be a big, blue monolith, but the differences won't be obstacles--they'll be strengths.

The Talk

News coverage of the past three years has renewed discussion of The Talk.
Now a commercial, by a company better known for toothpaste than social commentary, makes it unavoidable.
Not the sex talk--the other one.
The Talk that people of color give their teenagers before going out into the streets on their own the first time:

"When a cop stops you, speak respectfully.
Keep both hands on the wheel.
Don't make sudden moves.
Don't get out of the car, or get anything out of your pockets, without permission.
Roll your windows down.
Turn the light on...." and so on.

Parents who love their kids give The Talk, because they're afraid, and don't want their kids hurt by the police.
They see the news. They've seen bad things happen.


What reporters and copywriters don't know is that cops give their kids The Talk, too, because they know the other side of the traffic stop, and that their officer always expects someone to try to hurt him.
They know it can happen, because they ,too, see the news.
They know it happens, because they know officers it's happened to--some who made it home, and some who didn't.

A cop's family has its own version of The Talk, no matter what the family melanin levels are, and it starts way before the kids can drive.

In pre-school, The Talk is short and simple:
A cop's kid is taught to obey quickly, without question, when Mom or Dad says, "To the house." or "To the car."
At that age, they don't know why. They just hear the tension in the parental voice, and go.

*Officer Jay Stalien and his daughter*

As soon as they can recognize one , they're taught about firearms.
It's part of The Talk, too.
Cops' kids go to the range early. It's not just about learning to shoot, it's about firearms safety, because where there's a cop, there's a gun. It's not a toy, it's a tool, and it's never 'safe'.

Bits and pieces get added to The Talk as the kid grows up; in a cop's family, The Talk is never really over.

"If I walk away from you in the store, don't ask me why and don't follow me. I will find you."

It's not always safe to be seen with Mom or Dad.

"If I say 'Get down', get down. If I say 'Run', then run. Don't stop to argue. We'll talk later."

The Talk includes learning the difference between cover and concealment (in case of active shooters at school),
when to run (out your bedroom window, quick, and then to the neighbor's house. I'll find you),
and when it's okay to fight.

Cops' kids learn dad or mom gets the bad guys, and protects the good guys, but not everyone knows the difference.
"Tell me right away if (a student, a teacher, a bully) has a problem with you, because of me."
"You will not start a fight, but you can always defend yourself, or someone else. And I will always back you."
(Bonus: cops' kids learn to defend themselves. Weaponless defense practice is on the house, literally. )

Part of The Talk is learning what not to talk about, or to whom to talk , or when.
For some kids, part of The Talk is learning to tell people "Dad works for the city" or "Dad's self-employed" (which he is--cops' families pay taxes, too).

Then one day, the tables turn, and it's the cop's kid who starts The Talk--not the one about traffic stops, the one about the Job. Kids watch news, too, and they see bad things happen.
That is the day they're not really kids, anymore.

*Palm Springs Officer Vega's grandson at his memorial, EOW 10/8/16*

So---own The Talk. Teach them what they need to know to be safe, to be healthy, to be resilient.
Teach them what they need to know to honor the fallen and look after the hurting, without living in fear.

*Father and son at the CHP Memorial, summer 2016*

The world doesn't need more fear. There's no 'your world' or 'my world'. It's just our world.
We all want peace, and safety, and smart, tough, flexible young adults who grow into our future, no matter what we do for a living. If we're very blessed, they want to be just like us. If we do it right, maybe we're worthy of that.
Maybe The Talk starts every morning, in the mirror, and sounds a lot like The Golden Rule.

Till the End : Requiem for a Rural Badge

A rural badge fell in the high plains of northern California, the part no one ever sees in the movies.
There are more pronghorn and ravens there than humans,but even the humans can be wild,as dangerous as any city dweller;
they are untamed rather than feral, refusing to abide by the rules people agree to when they come together.
Dangerous people thrive in empty spaces.
The deputy answered a call, like he did every shift, and this time was greeted with rifle fire before he could leave his rig.

Help is hard to come by way up there, in the open range past the mountains.
The sheriff rolled backup himself ; it was supposed to have been his call, but his deputy beat him out the door.
When the 'officer down' crackled across the air, despite the distance, five sheriff's offices, two police departments, two federal and three state agencies sent officers to respond, as well.
Some of them drove Code 3 for hundreds of miles.
When no single agency has enough people, they all work together even if they've never met.
Family is family. You don't get to pick them, but you run when they call.

Local fire and rescue crews set aside shock and grief, and bad memories of their own, to give the rural deputy any small chance he might have, where the nearest "big" hospital was hours,not minutes away.
In country like that, every single one of them would know, not just his name, but him.
The loss is not symbolic, or theoretical, but very, very personal.

It's hard not to feel alone, in a setting so remote.


Weeks later, a note arrived to my inbox.
The writer had a story to tell me, and asked me to tell you. When loss is raw, we need reminders that we are not alone.
She wrote:
"I was at the **** ****** Cemetery today because it was my late father's birthday.
It is an amazing place, with sage brush, bucolic cow pastures and majestic views of Mt.Shasta.

*photo by Loree Johnson*

I came very late, knowing that Deputy ***** was being laid to rest; I did not want to disturb the procession.
I hoped to pay my respects in private.
I did not attend the memorial as it was too close to home(my daughter is a new police officer,the same age, and tears were shed all day).
When I drove out to the cemetery I passed police vehicles constantly.
I arrived to the most reverent and heart wrenching sight.
It made me proud to be in the blue family, and so sad for the brothers and sisters in uniform.
About thirty officers were left at the cemetery , dressed in formal uniform,
trading turns at the four shovels and laying Deputy **** to rest. They would take their turn with the shovel of dirt, and go to the end of the line, silent, reverent and with love.
They had his six until his last time on earth.
I wish everyone could have felt the love and pain.
The senseless murder would stop.
This family is strong.
Thanks for having this page."

I really didn't have anything more I could say, except, no ma'am, thank you.

Leaving Mayberry: 2016

It's time to dispel the myth of Mayberry.
2016 was a violent year for all law enforcement.
For those in small towns and remote places, the impact was disturbing and disproportionate.
The very first officer killed in 2016 was ambushed in a tiny Ohio town; the very last officer to fall died responding to a domestic disturbance in an even smaller Pennsylvania village.
In between were dozens of other rural officers, broken and killed by risks seldom acknowledged by a public convinced that "nothing ever happens in small towns."

In the real world numbers,not headlines, tell the story, and LESMA's Officers Shot in 2016 spreadsheet has the numbers.
(LESMA tracks officers shot as a measurable segment of attacks against officers. Please don't read anything more into that choice than simplicity of documentation.)

In 2016:
*278 officers were shot.
*85 of those officers were shot in areas with a population of less than 30,000 residents.
*48 of the officers were shot in areas with fewer than 11,000 residents, the smallest area being Hesston, PA (pop. 631), where a Pennsylvania state police officer fell at the very end of the year.


A quick look at fatalities:
A total of 278 officers were shot nationwide; 63 of them died.
85 officers were shot in areas with residents numbering <30k ; 25 of them died. In areas with population <11K, 48 officers were shot, and 17 of those were fatalities.

Raw numbers don't really mean anything. What story do the numbers tell? Break them down, and we will see:

As the numbers above demonstrate, when the town gets smaller, the fatality rate for wounded officers gets higher--a lot higher.
Officers from small towns and rural areas face substantial risk, with fewer resources and certainly, less press about the dangers of the job they do.
And there's the story; I've suspected it for a long time, but this is the first time I've had an entire year of data to interpret.

The next question has to be: Why?
As far as I know, no one has ever asked that and looked at the reasons behind it. All I can offer is speculation, based on my personal observations and knowledge of rural areas.

It's common for rural officers to work alone, with backup far away. That translates to : no one to provide cover, and no one to help a downed officer, pack his wounds, help with a tourniquet, or call for aid if he cannot.

It's common for rural officers to work where budget constraints mean working without safety equipment that's taken for granted in cities:
ballistic armor, patrol rifles that allow distance between suspect and officer, tourniquets, rifle plates , even reliable radio coverage.
Rural residents and elected officials tend to talk a good talk about law and order, and 'backing the blue'.
The harsh fact is that talk isn't support.
Encouraging words and blue porch lights, while welcome and appreciated, don't provide equipment, training or additional patrol positions.
Self-reliant country attitudes frequently coincide with resistance to adequate tax bases and growth of government agencies that allow for realistic coverage.

Rural areas and small towns rarely have rapid access to sophisticated trauma care.
Some don't even have small, critical access hospitals that can stabilize a wounded officer for transfer to higher levels of care; when they do,getting to them often involves long waits, and longer transports.
Time and distance are the enemy of the Golden Hour.
Again, I cannot prove that this directly contributes to increased mortality rates, but it seems a reasonable conclusion to make.

When an officer like the detective shot and critically wounded in Douglas County, CO, can be in a trauma center within minutes--and survive--but a Navajo officer shot early in 2017 lay helpless until a passerby found him, and struggled without cellphone service to get him medical aid , it's a hard comparison to avoid.

I can't prove a connection, but I would like to find out if more rural officers are shot with rifles than are urban officers. Country life and rifles go together in a way they can't in a city.
Handguns are easily concealed, and widely available in urban settings. Long guns? Not so much.
It's hard to stick a rifle down your pants, and it won't fit in your pocket.
In rural areas, rifles are like pickup trucks: plentiful, common and not worth a second look, let alone suspicion--
and soft armor won't stop them.
Maybe eventually we can start tracking weapons used in critical incidents, but right now that data simply isn't available to me.

My favorite question is, "Then what?"
For this problem , 'then what' is: get the word out.
Mayberry IS a myth.

Start by sharing this information with department heads, county and municipal administrators and news agencies to confirm that YOU ARE facing real and present threat, that deserves to be addressed and mitigated.
Administrative and reporting decisions are currently based on idealistic and outdated impressions of what "rural" means.
Data is much, much harder to dispute than an idea.

A case needs to be made, nationwide, that law enforcement agencies in every place and at every level have worth and dignity, and deserve to be trained, equipped and staffed appropriately for the jobs they are asked to do.
Failure to do so is a decision in itself.
It is also a moral and ethical choice--the wrong one.

The real problem impeding these solutions isn't budget, it's will.
That's even harder to overcome, in some ways, than figuring out funding streams or accessing training.

Asking communities to help their officers address these risks requires the citizens to admit publicly that their safe, quiet little town isn't really what they wish it to be.
It means giving up false, fuzzy facades of the 'good old days'--which weren't really all that ideal anyway (but that's another blog post).


Of the 63 officers shot so far in 2017, 26 of them were in places smaller than 30,000 residents, including five of the 13 fatalities.
If no one else is looking at that number, then we have to make them see.
News coverage is deceiving: large urban areas are reported as threatening and scary.
"The country" is idealized and Disneyfied.

This is real life, and you live it.
Mayberry never was a real place.

#Mayberrysamyth

Rural Badge Problems #2

If you get dispatched to a road hazard at 3 a.m. and it's a herd of mules on a two lane highway, you might be a rural badge.

If you've worked traffic control for a cattle drive, you might be a rural badge.

If your investigator waits on his tailgate for hours before starting an OIS investigation because the grow site's so remote a helicopter is longlining the JTF guys out two by two, you might be a rural badge.

If you've not only evacuated backroads ahead of wildfires, but also saved the good parts of your MREs for the little kids you escort, you might be a rural badge.

If your agency's 'vehicles' include horses, ATVs and snowmachines, you might be a rural badge.

If your shift is more like the second season of 'Justified' than anything from 'End of Watch', you might be a rural badge.

If you roll your eyes when your chief hires someone from a big city because you know he's never lifted a print or processed a scene by himself, you might be a rural badge.

If you know from experience that two adult Nubian goats or one miniature donkey fits in the rear of your vehicle, you might be a rural badge.

If the last guy who backed you up in a fight was the same guy you arrested the month before for public intoxication, you might be a rural badge.

If you drove Code 3 for forty minutes to respond to a robbery in progress, and when you arrived the bar patrons had disarmed the robber, hogtied him and resumed drinking, you might be a rural badge.

Don't Leave Your Wounded

Gonna preach for a minute; if you're from anywhere an officer has recently been harmed--Boise, Houston, Orlando, Louisiana, some little town in Oregon-- fill in the blank: this is for you.
If you aren't but you know someone who is--please pass this on.
Let's assume that, so far, everybody's still breathing. That's good. But it's not all.
One of your officers is still critical. Your chief, or sheriff, has made it clear that this officer faces a long, hard recovery.

Today, that's pretty raw, and probably, everybody's talking about it. There are cards, and flowers, and someone took cookies to the PD, and maybe some people are raising money.
Family members of someone very sick, or very badly hurt, face a lot of sudden, impossible-to-budget-for expenses.
So, thank you. That's a good thing.

Here's the hard part.
It's going to sound harsh, and maybe insensitive.

A lot of officers have died in the line of duty this past year, and it's been exhausting and painful.
But those officers, once the solemn ceremonies and parades are over, are at rest.
Their families struggle; but the officer's fight is over.

YOUR OFFICER'S FIGHT IS JUST BEGINNING.

There's nothing graceful or photogenic, or particularly poignant about coming back from multiple gunshot wounds.
It's scary. It hurts. It's ugly. It's frustrating.
It takes way longer than anyone thinks it should.
It's hard on your family.
Everyone worries about jobs--the officer's, the spouse's, the benefits that are on the line. Family medical leave doesn't pay, literally. Spouses or parents become caregivers, sometimes for a while, sometimes forever.
Headlines fade. Other stories break. The attention of people whose loved ones aren't full of slowly mending holes begins to wander.

Don't leave your wounded behind.
You'd willingly have died with him. Died for him.
Help him live.

Be the one who's still there. Be the one who still calls.
Be the one who visits, even when it's awkward, or you think you've run out of things to say.
Be the one who DOES things-- after nearly 30 years in a cop's family, I can promise you, there is some home repair or car repair that was interrupted by this inconvenient critical incident.

So, mow lawns. Take the dog to the vet.
Fix that drywall. Replace that faucet. Use your imagination.
Use your eyes, and do what's in front of you.

Do not wait for them to ask. They will not.

*helping renovate wounded Cpl. Holtry's home*

It's not really about what you DO, anyway. It's not.
It's about your officer and his family not being abandoned.

The saddest thing an officer has said to me since I created The Rural Badge, after he got hurt, is "If I had died, I wouldn't be a burden."

If he's your hero today, that matters.
It matters even more what you and the people of your community, do tomorrow, and next month, and in the years following,
if it comes to that.
I'm trusting you.
And I'm trusting the thousands of readers of this page to spread this word, not just for Boise,or Houston, King City, Ballwin or Joplin, but for the hundreds and hundreds of wounded officers in every single state.

If they called for backup, you'd come.
This is your call.

Thoughts on President's Day

This past year has brought politics to an acidic boil , like little in recent memory. On the week we observe President's Day, and Lincoln's Birthday, I realized that it is memory that's the problem--because none of this is new.

A wise man wrote, thousands of years ago "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." And so it is.

When politics and society get confusing, frightening, disorienting, it's useful to look back, and see where we've been.
A short memory, and even shorter attention span, are peculiarly American faults.
History can help us with that.

President George Washington, our very first elected head of state, a man so revered some new U.S. citizens wanted to make him king, was also the only president to personally lead troops to forcibly put down a budding rebellion over paying taxes--
taxes on whiskey, no less.

President Lincoln, the righteous and upright defender of the union and of civil rights, also completely suspended habeas corpus, to effect the arrest of a state legislator who was interfering with the movement of Union troops.
That moved overstepped the authority of the president, and was ultimately overturned by the courts--but it got the job done at the time, and stands to remind us now of three things:
1. all members of executive offices will try whatever seems effective to get their jobs done,
2. that's why we have checks and balances and
3. given enough time, checks and balances work.


Then there's President Jefferson, the darling of libertarians and isolationists alike.

Except, for when he isn't.
Few of the 'small government' zealots remember, and fewer still like to be reminded that, perfect world wishful thinking aside, Jefferson was also the first president to build up the Navy AND deploy it abroad, Marines onboard and hungry to fight as ever......for the purposes of pounding into the dirt a foreign government that had been harassing and impeding our merchant ships.

To his everlasting credit, Jefferson first tried diplomacy, payoffs and coalition building. When they didn't work long term, even he packed it in, and resorted to force. Overseas. With our military. To protect business.

Teddy Roosevelt is (a little) more recent president, and one with long, close ties to modern policing. He's also the president who first saw the value in setting aside wild spaces for future generations, and impacted national parks and refuges like no other before or since.

More to point in (very) recent history, TR is the president who created the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
,recently the location of a weeks-long standoff, and now a subject of great controversy.


History is the long game.
We've gotten past all that stuff, above.
We'll get through this, too, and we'll still be One, From Many, when we do.

Unplanned Growth and Inconvenient Truths

Haven't even had my second cup of coffee, and I already need to clarify some stuff.

In the past two days, a bunch of stuff has happened:
the FB page passed 10,000 likes, just one year in,
that's drawn a lot of new readers to the page,
I ticked off a bunch of sovereigns masquerading as " patriots" and shortly thereafter banned them,
had a millenial know it all condescend to me about what he thinks I don't understand about MJ regulations,
and now I'm getting scolded for 'fake news' about the silliness of New Mexico's laws that regulate sheriffs.

So, here's the thing:
I do this on my own time.
I don't have anything to sell.
I don't answer to any department head.

Add those things up:
I answer to 1. the truth and
2. my personal insights into those issues, in that order.

Before you pick a fight with me (which you won't win, btw--
I own the banhammer, and I don't like rants, trolls or drama), understand that I am a believer in fresh air and sunshine, even when it's inconvenient.

If you turn on the flock, you're not a sheepdog, you're a wolf.
I will call you on that.

If you tell me you'll walk into a firefight with the guy next to you, but you won't drive him to PT when he gets hurt and his wife is desperately trying to hold onto her job, or help remodel his kitchen so he can get his chair through the door, I'm going to call you on that.

If a county, city, legislator or department head is shortsighted, archaic or stupid, I will call them on that.
That's the cool part. I get to say that.
Take advantage of it, rather than getting mad at ME, and maybe we can get some stuff done.

Guess what?
The bad guys already KNOW you're short staffed, that laws have tied your hands, that some of your departments don't send you to the trainings they should, or issue you PPEs.

Let's tell the rest of the world, and maybe things can start to change. At the very least, you'll know you're not alone.
#TheRuralBadge

Rural Badge Problems #1

1.Google Maps does not know you exist.

2. The Google Earth car has never been here.

3. The attendance programs for the schools can't figure out your addresses, so it doesn't want staff to input students it thinks 'live outside your district'.

4. There are multiple addresses on the same house, from different systems over the years. No one wants to change the numbers, because friends know the address differently, depending how long they've lived in the area.

5. There's no such thing as home mail delivery. The PO Box IS the address.

6. There are both odd and even numbers on both sides of the road.

7. Sometimes the numbers start over randomly, or skip one, for no reason anyone ever explained.

8. 'General Delivery' still exists.

9. Garmin and Siri can't tell the difference between a Forest Service road and a paved one. And they can't tell you whether either one gets plowed on weekends.

10. 911 mostly works, but sometimes the cell tower sends it to the next county instead, for no reason anyone has ever figured out.

11. People still refer to roads by names that were used fifty years ago, before the state highway came through, and expect you to know where they mean.

12. "That hill where the horse is always standing by the road" or "where the green barn used to be before it burned down" is considered legitimate location description.

What I Want to See from the New Administration

Another police-oriented FB page asked what we would like to see for law enforcement , from the new administration .
I don't care about blue lights on the White House lawn, or who makes phone calls to bereaved families .

*photo by Ohio Going Blue*

I want across the board legislation , codifying medical care and retirement benefits for line of duty injuries.
I want the mission of Wounded Officers Initiative taken national.
I want to see an end to headlines about fallen Stanislaus County Deputy Wallace's past injuries still being fodder for courts.
I want it never to be okay again for a critically wounded officer like Deputy Hutchinson to be stripped of basic benefits.
I want wounded officers like Officer Crosby to never have to hope for a fundraiser big enough to help with the resources he needs, and deserves.

Some commenter who's not even involved in a blue family is mad at me ; he's arguing about letting those government bad guys get involved , saying I obviously have no idea what's at stake .

I say obviously he has no idea what wounded officers and their families face daily , in the uneven battle to claim what they have paid for , in blood , from a system designed only to minimize employer cost .

If he thinks it's okay for an officer with a career ending injury to duke it out alone in court , versus lawyers who do nothing else , he needs to strap up himself and throw the dice .

When a Rural Badge Falls

I watched the press conference hosted by Rolette County Sheriff Medrud. Several things about it struck me as very specific to rural agencies; it is brutal when an officer goes down, but there are some multipliers that complicate matters for small departments.

First, like Modoc County Sheriff Poindexter last fall,
Sheriff Medrud was rolling toward the shootout himself when it all went sideways.

In a remote area, a working boss is a necessity--but it does make things harder when press conferences and press releases need to be organized, loved ones need to be located, there's no PIO, and now the boss is part of the incident.
Rolette County only has nine patrol deputies.

Deputy Allery fell to gunfire last night.
Three more are now on administrative leave.
Do the math: nearly half of that sheriff's patrol staff was placed out of action last night.
Other, nearby agencies are graciously covering as many of their calls as possible, but that can't go on forever.
Reporters asked the sheriff what sort of support will be provided for the surviving deputies. He tried his best to answer well, but the harsh reality of rural living is that counselors skilled in police stress are in short supply.
Eleven officers have been shot in the line of duty in the first three weeks of 2017.
By my definition, eight of those shootings were in rural areas.
One, last night, was fatal.
Two more--in Calvert, TX and in Tonopah, AZ--were clear ambushes, by any definition.
Wear your vest. Don't get complacent. Look out for each other.
Mayberry's a myth. This is real life.

It's Better to Be Right, Than First

Quick note this morning about 'news' , and then I've got to do some real work:
Last night a truckload of hysteria was overtaking LE-oriented news pages, and getting endlessly repeated.
While a situation is ongoing, we HAVE to be the ones to step back, take a breath, and wait. First reports are nearly always wrong.

Further investigation nearly always turns up more stuff.
If you are to trust me as a source and as a writer, I have to be as accurate as possible.
If you want others to trust you, as LE or blue family, you too have an obligation to only pass on stuff that's verified.
The situation in Harris County got endlessly re-shared, even though it was being simultaneously reported as:
1. a gas station robbery
2. an active shooter (every shooting is not an active shooter situation, btw)
3. a home invasion and
4. even, eventually an OIS and then , worse, an officer down.

It is not possible for any one situation to be all of those things at the same time.
Therefore, step back, wait and don't repeat anything, at all, until stuff gets sorted out.
If you have to ask, do it by pm, rather than publicly. Get other eyeballs onboard.
Where's the harm in that?
Lately I've even seen 'please pray! Officer down! Firefighter shot!" posts that were months, sometimes YEARS old.
It scares people when that happens. And it erodes trust.

Check dates, please.
Use Google News. Search for things.
If a story can't be verified, wait.
If I share something and it turns out later to be different--
I'll share the real deal, and retract the first story.
So far I've only had to do that once.
I'd rather do it every day than have readers start regarding my page as a source of doubt.
And I'd always rather be right, than be first.