Innovation has its price
The recent criticism of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reminded me of a statement President Kennedy made in 1961 regarding his reform-minded approach to Latin America, which at the time...
View ArticleDifficult time for the Chicago P.D.
We are living through one more very tough time at the Chicago Police Department. It’s “beat-down” time for our agency and the punches and kicks are coming from the media, clergy, and politicians, as...
View ArticleCode Red
Law enforcement in America is under attack. As of November 2, 2007 there have been 150 law enforcement officer deaths, which would put the profession on pace for the deadliest year since the early...
View ArticleTop ten signs you need a raise
1. You did the math and realized it will take 20,000 hours of overtime to pay for one year of college for one of your kids. 2. You're seriously considering taking a position with a security firm that...
View ArticleFLSA suit won
I recently was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against Big Horn County for violating FLSA regulations. I wanted you to know that American Police Beat played a big role in helping me put this suit...
View ArticleNo more chases
I'm the chief of the small city of Bayou Vista on the outskirts of Galveston, Texas. I've worked as a lieutenant, sergeant and deputy for the Harris County Sheriff's Department for over 20 years. Over...
View ArticleLetters to editor
Criticism misplaced The Taser Foundation was recently criticized in a national daily newspaper for hosting a poker tournament dubbed, "Beauty and the Bet." The event featured Playboy bunnies to help...
View ArticleTop ten signs a recession is coming
1. Everyone's talking about their paycheck, not just cops. 2. Oil is $100 a barrel. 3. States crack down on illegal labor and Microsoft moves manufacturing to Canada and Mexico. 4. You're seriously...
View ArticleCops do reduce crime
New York City just ended 2007 with the lowest number of murders – below 500 – since 1963, the last year exact comparisons are possible. This homicide drop, from a high of 2,245 in 1990, is unmatched...
View ArticleCongress did authorize us to enforce immigration laws
Over the past several years illegal immigration has been an issue of great debate around the country. Some law enforcement agencies take the stance that enforcing immigration law is the job of the...
View ArticleMarch 2008 letters to APB
Divorce The January 2008 article regarding divorce hits home for many of us in law enforcement. While some of us experience amicable agreement with custody arrangements, others aren't so lucky. After...
View ArticleApril 2008 letters to American Police Beat
Stop that song! I was listening to a popular oldies station the other day and heard the lyrics below from a Beatles song, “Run For Your Life.” They are not even innuendos, the man is threatening to...
View ArticleTop 10 reasons to worry about your pension
1. Most of the money is invested in the home mortgage market. 2. The head of the fund is addicted to poker and has a second home in Las Vegas. 3.Your city is facing a budget shortfall bigger than the...
View ArticleBenefits need protections
In the 1980s Australian state and territorial governments started slowly eliminating the defined pension benefits for public employees by “selling the unborn.” Employees hired after a certain date...
View ArticleMay 2008 letters
Thanks a lot I wanted to write a note to express my appreciation to you for providing the Anderson Police Department with a complimentary copy of American Police Beat. Each month we look forward to...
View ArticleTop 10 signs the case is getting thrown out
1. The defendant has the same last name as the Mayor. 2. Under cross-examination, your partner says the reason for the stop was “boredom.” 3. State’s Exhibit A is a blown-up photo of your arm on which...
View ArticleScare tactics rolled out in debate
Editor’s note: The author is responding to an article alleging that police officers get too much in the way of benefits when they retire. Seth Grossman’s commentary, “Cap pension payments to relieve...
View ArticleTop 10 stupid things legislators are working on
1. Repealing the foie gras ban in Chicago, much to the chagrin of the goose-rights crowd. 2. Banning “Truck Nutz” in Florida. 3. Spending tens of thousands of dollars to secure “executive bathrooms.”...
View ArticleSmearing law enforcement officers hurts recruitment
A N.Y. state panel just mandated new, higher pay for rookies still in training which should make it a little easier for the NYPD to overcome its recent recruiting problems. But much of the good work of...
View ArticleSeptember Letters to APB
Fighting for our lives The Vallejo Police Officers Association in California is in a fight for its life, and your association may be next if the City of Vallejo can use bankruptcy to break our labor...
View ArticleHistory of police espionage 101
Maryland State Police didn’t do their homework before they started spying on peace activists and anti-death-penalty groups. If the amateur spymasters had read up on their Maryland law enforcement...
View ArticleTop 10 ideas the city council has for balancing the budget
1. They’re going to borrow half the pension fund to pay for next year’s snow removal. 2. Local P.D. to be merged with EMS, Fire, Parks, and DPW. Hopefully someone with overdue books committing a crime...
View ArticleTop ten ways not to greet the responding officers
1. “Yeah the music’s loud- what are you gonna do about it?” 2. Wearing a thong, holding a sword in one hand and a joint in the other. 3. “Hey tough guy, I called like an hour ago.” 4. Running away. 5....
View ArticleProtestors just don't get it
As a police officer, I was slightly heartened to learn that the recent march in our city, Omaha, Nebraska, organized by the Omahans for Justice Alliance, focused on their disagreements not only with...
View ArticleFrustrated
Frustrated I’m a deputy in a small Sheriff’s Office in South Dakota. I have read other letters from officers with a similar problem, so I know I am not the only one with this problem. I have a great...
View ArticleSermon from the bottom of Mount “Woe is me”
At some point in everyone’s life an inevitable truth becomes a reality. In my case, it was the recent realization that I have celebrated most of my birthdays, and probably don’t have all that many left...
View ArticleTop Ten Signs you’re way out of shape
1. You get winded if you change the channels fast. 2. You haven’t been able to see your own feet while standing since 1987. 3. Your time in the 40-yard dash is 27 seconds. 4.Taco Bell sends you “Thank...
View ArticleTop Ten ways not to start the report
1. Hear ye, hear ye: 2. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times 3. What it do players? Here’s the deal: 4. From the desk of the world’s greatest cop 5. Four score and seven years ago… 6....
View ArticleDecember 2008 letters to APB
Right to carry As president of the Seattle Police Officer's Guild, I would like to bring to your attention a situation which has impacted one of our officers and has the potential to affect the safety...
View ArticleBad news policy
Here at the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., we are currently experiencing what we consider to be a problem in that the agency is placing negative comments in the personnel files of employees who...
View ArticleThe Top 10 things that don't mean anything
1. “Tactical underwear solutions” 2. The deal you make with yourself around this time of year to finally drop ten pounds. 3. Pats on the back from politicians holding the purse strings. 4. Terms like...
View ArticleJanuary 2009 letters to Editor APB
Officers exonerated I wanted to send you an update and a thank you from the Seattle Police Officers Guild. We were notified that the misdemeanor gun charges against the Seattle Police Officers and two...
View ArticleTop Cop's got some advice for Obama
President Barack Obama is going to have a lot on his plate when he takes the oath of office on January 20 – the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism, and health care reform, just for starters. I’d...
View ArticleFebruary letters
Cops trained to "run away?" There was an article on the Secret Service that ran on January 4, 2009 in Parade magazine. In it an ex-Secret Service agent and current colonel at the Hillsborough County...
View ArticleTop Ten LE casualties of the recession
1. Take home cars 2. Regional drug task forces 3. Ratified contracts 4. Hiring 5. Interoperability/designated law enforcement channel on digital broadcast spectrum 6. In service training 7. Public...
View ArticleTop 10 signs the new guy's got roid rage
1.After pummeling three linemen from Michigan during a traffic stop, he then went on to crush their SUV with his fists. 2. His skin’s worse than Manuel Noriega. 3. First bench-press set – 50 reps, 432...
View ArticleFusion leads to confusion
There isn't a solitary soul that could make a reasonable argument that police officers should be on the lookout for suspicious individuals and activities that might indicate the possibility of a...
View ArticleRecent letters
Lame coverage Over the years I have enjoyed the articles in Police Beat. Usually the news is relevant, the articles educational and informative and the editorials to the point. In your last issue...
View ArticleJanuary 2010 issue letters to the editor
Really? I can't believe what happened in that incident with the fake robbery that occurred in New Jersey that you wrote up in the November issue of your magazine where the employer came up with the...
View ArticleMarch 2k10 issue letters to editor
High praise from youngster My name is Thomas Vaziri, and I am seven years old. Me and my mom liked the advertisement about the policeman's pants falling down on page 11. Please keep writing funny...
View ArticleTop 10 weird headlines of the month
1. Police: Man raped girl with his autistic teen son in car 2. Miami man fakes kidnapping to get a ride from police, authorities say 3. Man cited for DUI after striking stop sign at 5 mph 4. Thieves...
View ArticleSeptember Letters to the Editor
Words of wisdom we never heard Remember the guy who got on a plane with a bomb built into his shoe and tried to light it? Did you know his trial is over? Did you know he was sentenced? Did you see or...
View ArticleParole Board has blood on their hands and should resign
Woburn, Massachusetts Police Officer John "Jack" Maguire was gunned down by a career criminal who was released from prison in February 2009. Officer Maguire was responding to an armed robbery at the...
View ArticleMarch 2011 letters to the editor
Keeping fit while on patrol Thanks for running my article on keeping fit while on patrol. Below is a description of the stretches you can do while working. 1. Wheel stretch: sit in driver's seat; hold...
View ArticleThe view from here
In Boston, it's now official. A scandal associated with hiring practices at the Probation Department has prompted the age-old debate about the Civil Service System. It seems like every year, our union,...
View ArticleA sacred promise
Events of the past year, perhaps unlike any other in recent history, has given us all cause to reflect on promises. We have seen a nation fulfill its promise to bring justice to a terrorist. and we...
View ArticleTop 10 Jose Canseco Tweets
1. A broken heart is knd of like a broken bat you can use it again but it will never be the same.2. Lake house has no chandeleers and I need some. Any light company want to trade 2 or 3 for signed bat...
View ArticleSeptember 2011 letters to the editor
Dangers of prescription drugs I read the article in the April issue of American Police Beat entitled "Pill Mills." I feel this article fell short in that you did not discuss programs such as "Painfully...
View ArticleSqueezing the middle
In a recent online article for the Guardian, a British newspaper, reporter Paul Harris notes that corporate America has a new advertising strategy. This new approach to selling is based on what...
View ArticleFebruary 2012 letters to the editor
Need your helpFor years the Law Enforcement Equipment Program has helped American police departments send used equipment to our military oversees to assist in the training and equipping of local law...
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