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Category Archives: Street
Police Lives Matter
I was thinking about the two police officers shot in Ferguson this morning when I remembered this homemade sign placed beside the road in the city where I work. This impromptu road sign was much like a banner I had seen a few weeks ago in Gibsonton on U.S. 41. It also read, “Police Lives Matter,” and was displayed over a business. Both made me reflect that there are many law enforcement supporters out there who are our silent majority. I appreciate the sentiments. Speedy recovery to the wounded officers and safe shifts to those on watch… Randall
Posted in Officer Down, Politics, Street
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Lake Wales Police Officers Shot
News agencies are reporting that two Lake Wales police officers have been shot while responding to an “active shooter” incident. The Lake Wales Police Department and Polk County Sheriff’s Office have a suspect in custody. A PCSO spokesperson stated no one “was seriously or critically injured” at the call. Neighbors on Hillside Avenue said there had been numerous gunshots from the area. I hope the officers will make a full recovery… Randall Update: This was a straight-up ambush. Suspect John Goepferich called 911, saying there was someone shooting in his house. When Ofc’s John Schwartze and Benjamin Metz arrived, they were hit by gunfire from Goepferich’s 9mm pistol. In all, … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street
2 Comments
Police K9 Handlers and Dog Control
A Coconut Creek Police Department K9 dog has been retired from the force after biting two innocent persons, one an officer. Four-year-old K9 Renzo had only been on the job a year and a half at the time of his dismissal. The circumstances of the bites, as widely reported in the media, shine a light on the subjects of a handler’s judgment and his control of his police dog in public. I am commenting only on the scenarios as documented, not the persons involved, who will not be named here. In the first instance, November 26, 2014, the K9 team was tracking a home invasion suspect around 12 a.m. The … Continue reading
New CODECAM Police Body Camera
I spied a couple of police body cameras at SHOT Show 2015. One was the CODECAM designed by HQ Industries, LLC. This is a low profile camera that can be carried in a uniform pen pocket or clipped to other items of clothing or MOLLE webbing. It even comes with a magnetic mount. HQ says theirs is the only camera with a built-in LED utility light. The CODECAM records video in 720p HD at 30 FPS and stores it on an 8 GB micro SD card, which can be removed for upload. Video is recorded, in color and with audio, to .MOV format. Over two hours of video can be … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street, Technology
Tagged CODECAM, police body camera, Quiqlite, SHOT Show
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Recording the Police: Hands Up 4 Justice App
Hands Up 4 Justice is an app that lets people record police/citizen encounters without the officer knowing that the user’s cell phone camera is active. Although the message is that taping the interaction is innocent, the Hands Up 4 Justice Facebook page contains the following: “The App will allow you to secretly record any traffic stop & share & save the video online. In the event that you are detained or killed the video is safe” I am a little put off by the words “secretly” and “killed.” This is more sinister than HU4J’s regular website, which gives helpful tips to app users such as: Make sure you have updated … Continue reading
Posted in Legal, Officer Safety, Street
2 Comments
Police Officers Say, “Walk a Mile in Our Shoes.”
Phoenix civil rights activist Rev. Jarrett Maupin and a Fox news reporter go through some standard police use of force scenarios and learn some things about what we as cops face everyday. It strongly affected their preconceptions. “We want his badge, we want his gun, we want his job!” Rev. Maupin had chanted earlier at a protest for a police shooting in Phoenix. After this training session with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, Rev. Maupin said, “I didn’t understand how important compliance was, but after going through this, yeah, my attitude has changed.” During the Simunition training, both Maupin and the reporter shot an aggressive unarmed man approaching them in … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Politics, Street
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New Florida Child Restraint Changes in Effect Today
Changes to Florida’s Child Restraint requirements go into effect today. Children under five years of age must now be transported in a federally approved separate carrier child seat, vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat, or belt-positioning booster seats while riding in a motor vehicle upon the roadways, streets, or highways of the State. Previously four and five year olds could be restrained with just a seat belt. Section One of Florida State Statute 316.613 now reads: (1)(a) Every operator of a motor vehicle as defined in this section, while transporting a child in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall, if the child is 5 … Continue reading
Posted in Legal, Street
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Long Range Police Marksmanship Part Two
(Ed. Note: Aaron is a sworn LEO and SWAT cop in another state. He frequently comments here at TBF and is an editor at BlueSheepdog.com. The following was originally sent as a comment to my article Long Range Police Marksmanship, but I felt it should stand alone as a post. Welcome Aaron!) The mindset that the pistol cannot be used beyond 25 yards permeates the law enforcement community, and is a dangerous and ignorant concept. It is true that a pistol is often not as easy to maintain accuracy at longer shots because of the lack of a solid supporting position, but it doesn’t mean that they cannot be effective, … Continue reading
Posted in Firearms, Officer Safety, Street
2 Comments
RAMP–Rapid Access Magazine Pod Review
When I cruise the vendors’ displays at SWAT Round-Up International, I look for new products. About three-quarters of the way down the north aisle, I saw something that made me pause: an AR-15 mag pouch that had the magazine…upside down. Well, I had to stop and chat with the folks at Gear4Grunts.com. CEO Doug Mullen is the inventor of the RAMP, or Rapid Access Magazine Pod. Doug’s military experience and work as a civilian defense contractor led him to ask, “Why are we still carrying rifle magazines the same way we did in WWI?” In examining the ergonomics of a magazine change, Doug figured out something innovative. The patent pending … Continue reading
Posted in Firearms, Protective Armor, Street, SWAT, Technology
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Long Range Police Marksmanship Part One
The November 28th police shooting in Austin, Texas, where a mounted patrol officer neutralized an active shooter at over 100 yards with his handgun, reminded me of another active shooter incident 20 years ago. Both cases reinforce the lesson that police pistol training needs to take place at longer ranges. Austin Sgt. Adam Johnson engaged suspect Larry McQuilliams, who had unleashed over 200 rounds around the city’s downtown from two rifles, at 312 feet with his duty Smith & Wesson M&P40. Johnson was on foot and holding the reigns of two horses when he fired a single fatal shot, one-handed, at the suspect. The bullet hit the McQuilliams in the … Continue reading
Posted in Firearms, Officer Safety, Street
3 Comments
Updated: Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Killed, Another Wounded
As the greater Tallahassee community healed after Thursday’s FSU school shooting, more tragedy struck. Leon County Sheriff’s Deputy Christopher L. Smith, responding to a house fire, was ambushed and murdered as he arrived at the scene Saturday. The suspect, Curtis Wade Holley, took the deputy’s gun and began firing it as he walked down the 3700 block of Caracas Court. Deputy Colin Wulfekuhl was shot and wounded by the suspect. Tallahassee Police Department Officers Mark Lewis and Scott Angulo came on scene. Ofc. Lewis tried to help Dep. Smith, but was fired upon by Holley. Tallahassee Fire Department personnel were also shot at and least one fire engine was seen racing … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Down, Officer Safety, Street
4 Comments
Back in Uniform for a Shift
We had a minor supervisory crisis last Sunday night and I was asked to fill in for the Evening Shift. Okay, I hadn’t been in a street uniform in over a year, but I offered to help out. My equipment was mostly right where I had left it. I would be the only sergeant for the shift, but, hey, I’ve been there many times before. Sunday afternoon arrived. I had borrowed the keys to a fellow sergeant’s marked Chevy Tahoe. When I parked at the PD, I loaded my equipment: admin files, statute book, traffic vest, spare flashlight, plate carrier with 2 rifle mags and med kit, AR-15, and shotgun. … Continue reading
Posted in Street
2 Comments
Lone Wolves Are a New Threat
With this year’s terrorist attacks on the British soldier in Woolrich, England, the Canadian soldiers run down by an extremist, the shootings at the Canadian Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Canadian Parliament, and the hatchet attack on four New York City Police Department officers last week, we can assume that radical Islamists are targeting uniformed soldiers and police officers. There is yet another cause for vigilance when working behind the badge. The calls from the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) and Islamic extremists to attack Infidels (that’s us) have inspired emboldened fundamentalist, or “lone wolf,” attacks on the symbolic warriors of Western values. Law enforcement and Military … Continue reading
Posted in Officer Safety, Street
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Deadly Force Policy Change in Miami Beach
The Miami Beach Police Department is poised to change its deadly force policy to now prohibit an officer from discharging his or her firearm at a vehicle unless an occupant displays a weapon–not to include the car–or shoots at them. This move stems from a 2011 incident involving officers shooting at a motorist who tried to run over five Miami Beach police officers. That driver, Raymond Herisse, was shot by officers of both the Miami Beach and Hialeah police departments after his violent behavior during Urban Beach Week. Herisse died at the scene. A video of the end of the incident went viral. The last Miami Beach Police Department shooting … Continue reading
Posted in Defensive Tactics, Officer Safety, Politics, Street, SWAT, Tactics, Uncategorized
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Florida K9 Dog Killed in the Line of Duty
A St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office K9 dog was killed in the line of duty early Tuesday morning, presumably drowned by a suspect. K9 Deputy Farrah Ashe and her partner Baron were in pursuit of Brandon Bernard Allison, who fled from a disturbance, when the dog team came to a fence. Dep. Ashe hoisted Baron over the obstacle and Baron continued without her while she scaled the fence. As Dep. Ashe tried to catch up with the dog, she heard shouting ahead in the darkness. Dep. Ashe found K9 Baron dead in the shallow water of a swampy area. Allison was gone and a manhunt ensued. Allison turned himself in … Continue reading