Category Archives: Officer Safety

Texas Teen Has Deputy’s Back

This photo and the text below were posted to Harris County, TX Sheriff’s Deputy Tommi Kelley’s Facebook page. Tommi Jones Kelley Ok, so EARLY this morning I was pumping gas in my patrol car (reason I look like a Hot Mess!)…& add it was pouring rain… When this teenager I’ve never met before is standing right behind me & says, “ma’am, do u mind if I stand here behind you while u get ur gas?” My initial response was “and why?”… His reply, “to make sure You stay safe!” Finished pumping my gas & he was still standing there, in the rain 😕. He then just walked off & started … Continue reading

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Odortec’s Skunk for Crowd Control

How would you fancy someone “taking a chunk of rotting corpse from a stagnant sewer, placing it in a blender and spraying the filthy liquid in your face.”  Skunk brand crowd control liquid, made by Odortec Ltd., delivers that vile scenario, according to one Reuters reporter.  Sounds like The Running Dead. We all know that dispersing unruly masses with smoke, CS, or OC can be effective if the crowd is given lawful orders, clear instructions, and viable escape routes.  Skunk is marketed as a “non-lethal malodorant” that comes with a strong incentive to flee from your own gag reflex. Skunk’s formula is water-based, eco-friendly, biodegradable, non-flammable, and made from food-grade … Continue reading

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Smith & Wesson Centennial Revolvers Revisited

Does the pervasive plastic pistol have you feeling a bit listless and melancholy lately?  Striker-fired boredom setting in?  Well, perk up your life with a Smith & Wesson Centennial revolver!  Sometimes going “retro” can get you caught in a new frame of mind that will liven your dreary modern existence. The quintessential J-frame revolver by Smith & Wesson has been around since its birth in 1950 as the Chief’s Special or, later, the Model 36.  Designed as a small, concealable handgun with moderate power from its .38 S&W Special chambering, the platform has morphed into many versions during its 60-plus years. In Smith & Wesson-ese, the “Centennial” model, introduced in … Continue reading

Posted in Firearms, Off Duty, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Tourniquets for Police Patrol

There was an officer-involved shooting in the City of St. Petersburg last week.  In the exchange of gunfire, an officer was hit in the leg by a bullet from the suspect’s pistol.  Unfortunately, the officer’s Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T®) was in his cruiser.  He attempted to fashion a field-expedient tourniquet from a garden hose to help staunch the flow of blood.  I am glad to report that he survived.  The suspect did not. This shooting caused SPPD to examine their issuance of the C-A-T tourniquet.  Some officers complained that the C-A-T is difficult to carry on a crowded gun belt.  SPPD Chief Tony Holloway, in turn, approved the purchase of … Continue reading

Posted in Medical, Officer Down, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , | 5 Comments

NOPTIC Thermal Imaging System

…and another thing!–I am jealous of the FLIR system on the orbiting police helicopter above!  It would be cool if I had a thermal imager in my cruiser to pick out bad guys hiding in the darkness like those rotorheads up in the chopper.  Well, someone has come up with just this idea. I had not seen the NOPTIC, nighttime optical thermal imaging camera, until recently.  The NOPTIC camera mounts on the A-pillar spotlight of a police car and sends infrared imaging back to the in-car computer screen so the officer can see at night without the compromises of a visible light beam. Using a passive IR camera, the NOPTIC … Continue reading

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QALO Thin Blue Line Ring Series

QALO Rings, about which I have previously written, has a new line of wedding rings that honor police officers and firefighters.  The Thin Blue Line and Thin Red Line rings allow you to show commitment to your profession while protecting the hands that hold your spouses tight.  Yes, they make them for both men and women. QALO, pronounced Kay-Lo, will donate 20% of the proceeds from the sales of these rings to care for the families of fallen officers through the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.  A similar fund will distribute the 20% to families of fallen firefighters through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Firefighter Wife.  Says QALO: … Continue reading

Posted in Misc., Officer Safety, Street | Tagged | 5 Comments

Graphic Dash Video Shows Cruiser Hit Active Shooter

On February 19, 2015, a wanted felon in Marana, Ariz. stole a rifle from a Walmart and strode down the street firing bullets.  Officer Michael Rapiejko saw an opportunity to end the incident before the suspect made it to commercial businesses and a busy roadway. This video is graphic, but illustrates the split-second decisions officers have to make while on the job. Ofc. Rapiejko was praised for his decisive action by Marana Chief Terry Rozema, who credited the officer with saving citizens and the suspect’s life.  This felon spent only two days in the hospital before his transfer to jail.  He was wanted in connection with three incidents in Tucson: … Continue reading

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Flakka–A Deadly New Designer Drug Rises in Florida

South Florida is experiencing a spike in violent and unpredictable behaviors exhibited by people using the relatively new synthetic designer drug known as flakka.  A “bath salt”-style mixture, flakka can be smoked, vaped, snorted, injected, or swallowed.  It is classified as a synthetic cathinone under the chemical name alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, or alpha-PVP. Flakka, known as “gravel” in other parts of the country because of its coarse crystalline appearance, is highly addictive and can cause dangerous psychotic episodes.  It costs about one quarter that of methamphetamine, but seems to have worse short term effects on its users. Since the beginning of this year, a naked and armed flakka user held police at … Continue reading

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Larry Vickers Recreates Collateral Shooting Techniques

As a profession, law enforcement sometimes fails to teach practical shooting drills in favor of square range target practice.  Yes, I know, Collateral was a just movie.  But the essence of the action here is a Controlled Pair from the holster on suspect one, followed by a Failure Drill, a.k.a. the Mozambique Drill, to suspect two.  If you have not depressed a trigger on either of these techniques thus far in 2015, you are not keeping your shooting skills honed. I was with a small group of sergeants who had rifle qualifications a few weeks ago.  Our instructor for the evolution is a reserve Tier One soldier with combat tours … Continue reading

Posted in Firearms, Officer Safety, Tactics | 1 Comment

New Emerson Rangemaster Sheepdog Knife

Ernest Emerson has allied with noted author, speaker, and soldier Lt. Col. Dave Grossman to produce Emerson’s first flipper knife that will be the official blade for Grossman’s company, Sheepdog Knife and Gun.  The knife is called the Rangemaster Sheepdog and it is one very nice piece of sharpened goodness. The Rangemaster Sheepdog has a 3.5 inch blade of 154 CM stainless steel, Rockwell Hardened to 57-59 on the C scale.  The blade, available as a bowie or spear point and in black or stonewashed finishes, swings open via the patented Emerson Wave Feature, a thumb disk, or finger flipper action.  Any one of these methods operates on a new … Continue reading

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Lone Pinellas Deputy Controls Beach Brawl

Pinellas County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bryan Bingham had his hands full with drunken, combative Spring Breakers convicted felons.  He stayed calm and appeared to use as little force as he could to control both suspects while awaiting back-up.  It would have been nice to see some of the kids give him some meaningful help earlier in the fracas, but at least they did not attack him. The first suspect, Joshua McMahan, punched and spat on Bingham at the beginning of the incident.  McMahan was released from prison in 2014 for armed robbery.  The second suspect, Justin Lewis, was also released from state prison last year on an aggravated battery charge.  Both … Continue reading

Posted in Officer Safety | 3 Comments

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

Posted in K9, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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

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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