Category Archives: Officer Safety

K9 Team Fired Upon

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Randall

This incident from Pinellas Park, FL gave me chills and reminded me of the 2006 shooting death of Polk County Deputy Matt Williams and K9 DiOGi. Tracking desperate criminals, and since they are on the run–they are desperate, is very dangerous work.  Anyone who has been on the non-dog end of the leash in the dark knows this. K9 teams in my day worked alone.  Nowadays, the dogs and handlers are often joined by a second trained handler as a back-up.  I have worked as the trailing officer and have been there to assist in arrests.  It is a sound tactic. I am glad the Pinellas Park K9 team won … Continue reading →

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Introducing the iStab

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Randall

Oh, boy. “The iStab is a 3D printed iPhone cover which has a folding knife along one edge, producing a blade whenever you might need one. This phone case is “cutting edge”, and is designed as an exploration in conceptual 3D printed weapons.” The models I based this idea from are free, and the programs needed edit the 3D files are also free: Netfabb and MeshMixer.” “The iStab is a great way to keep a cutting implement on hand at all times. This can be used as a weapon for self-defense for the next time you’re in a knife-fight like Michael Jackson in Beat It, or harmlessly used for everyday … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Knives, Officer Safety | Leave a comment

R.A.T.S. Tourniquet

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Randall

The Rapid Application Tourniquet System (R.A.T.S.) is another style of extremity hemorrhage control marketed to soldiers and police officers.  It consists of a 1/2″ flat bungee cord and aluminum cleat.  The instructions below are pretty self explanatory.

Posted in Medical, Officer Safety, Street | 1 Comment

New KA-BAR TDI Hinderance and Hell Fire Knives

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Randall

I feel kind of vindicated.  I wrote an article about the original KA-BAR TDI Law Enforcement Knife a while back that essentially said, “Like the knife, hate the sheath.”  And I got hammered for it on a few forums.  To be fair, my article was titled, “KA-BAR TDI Knife Review: Unsafe for Duty,” so I guess I started it. But that is in the past since the updated knives have a hard plastic sheath with a sliding thumb lock to keep the blade under your control.  Well, KA-BAR has finally addressed what I thought was the shortcoming and officer safety issue. In the avalanche of booths at SHOT Show 2014, … Continue reading →

Posted in Knives, Officer Safety | Tagged , | 7 Comments

TASER-proof Clothing Project

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Randall

Hackaday.com has webbed up a “TASER-proof” clothing project.  The suggested mod is to use carbon-fiber strips in garments to make them “100% taserproof.”  By inserting iron-on CF tape strips between layers of cloth, the space-aged material will allegedly conduct electrical energy from a TASER or stun gun away from the clothing’s wearer and into the  CF strips to be dispersed without result.  Skin penetration by the probes is supposedly rendered ineffective as well. Gee, it is too bad that modern law enforcement officers do not train to transition to other less lethal options when their CEW’s are ineffective.  Oh, wait a minute…  We do!  This geek-inspired Hackaday Internet invention is … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Tactics, Taser, Technology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

FBI Publishes Report on Active Shooter Events–2000-2012

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Randall

Last month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation published the findings of a study of Active Shooter Events (ASE’s) that occurred from 2000 to 2012.  One thing is clear from the data, and you can probably guess what it is.  Active shootings, injuries, and deaths have all increased during in years examined. The FBI studied a total of 110 active shooter events during this period.  Complete data was not available for every instance, but there was enough information for an examination of the trends in several areas of concern. While you might think most of the incidents occurred on school campuses, 40% of ASE’s occurred in businesses, while 29% were in … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Street, SWAT | 2 Comments

Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Slain

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Randall

Orange County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jonathan Scott Pine was apparently ambushed and murdered during a foot chase last night.  Dep. Pine was pursuing an auto burglary suspect that had fled from him, when the suspect shot Pine in a backyard.  Dep. Pine, a three year veteran of the OCSO, leaves behind a wife and three children. The murderer was violent felon who had been released from prison in 2012 after serving just three years of a seven year sentence for two bank robberies in Maryland.  He committed suicide several houses away from Dep. Pine’s shooting. Our condolences to Dep. Pine’s family and co-workers. Randall

Posted in Officer Down, Officer Safety | 1 Comment

New Smith & Wesson M&P Bodyguard 380

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Randall

Smith & Wesson has announced a variant of their popular Bodyguard 380.  This will be marketed as the M&P Bodyguard 380, adding to their Military & Police line.  Noticeably absent from this gun is the integral InSight laser.  When I first wrote at BlueSheepdog.com about the LAPD approving the Bodyguard 380 for on and off duty use, back in April of 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department had mandated that both the laser and manual safety be deactivated.  This version solves one of those requests. I am ambivalent about the InSight laser.  I have kept mine functional and I occasionally use it at the range.  The activation buttons’ stiffness can … Continue reading →

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

Tactical Medical Solutions Uniformed Medical Kit

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Randall

Tactical Medical Solutions, Inc. provides products and training resources for both combat and tactical medical applications.   Their Uniformed Medical Kit allows a police officer to carry vital medical supplies beneath his or her uniform shirt.  The pouch attaches with hook side Velcro™ to the loop field on the adjustable strap area of concealed body armor.  More loop material on the front of the UMK is available for the strap ends to affix. Tactical Medical Solutions gives the following benefits to the UMK: Central placement provides the officer instant, ambidextrous access to

Posted in Medical, Misc., Officer Down, Officer Safety, Protective Armor | Tagged | Leave a comment

New Celox RAPID Hemostatic Gauzes

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Randall

As I was finishing a half lap of SWAT Round-Up International’s vendor area, I had spied my old friend, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office Master Deputy.  My friend introduced me to Dr. William Brooks at the Advanced Trauma Specialties display.  Dr. Brooks was demonstrating some new Celox RAPID hemostatic gauzes.  The Celox RAPID gauzes come in Z-folded 3″ X 5′ and 1″ X 5′ lengths, the latter of which is called Celox RAPID Ribbon gauze. Celox granules are laminated to the high density gauze material to provide easy packing into a wound for quick bleeding control.  Celox is made with Chito-R™ (chitosan from shrimp shells) that binds to red blood … Continue reading →

Posted in Medical, Officer Safety, Street, Technology | Leave a comment

Sending Them Out to Play in Traffic

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Randall

It was my first week back in Detective Bureau.  I was getting a slice with some of the guys when I got a call from my lieutenant.  “Yeah, Boss?”  “You better check on Wheaten and Milner; they requested uniformed back-up,” he said.  Day two in DB and I hadn’t even programmed all the investigators’ numbers into my phone.  Figured.  “Right away, Boss.” Just before lunch, Wheaten told me he and Milner were going to interview and arrest a grand theft suspect for whom he had probable cause at a particular nursing home.  At least I knew where they were.  I reached Milner on the phone.  “All good?”  She said, “We … Continue reading →

Posted in Detectives, Officer Safety | Tagged | 1 Comment

Video Captures Daytona Beach Police OIS

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Randall

Daytona Beach Police Department released this video of their officers engaging a hostage taker on September 25, 2013.  The officer involved shooting was captured on a body camera worn by one of the officers.  Former New York Giants player Jermaine Lanier Green, 32, was holding his girlfriend at knife point when the officers entered the home. In reviewing the video of the Daytona Beach OIS, I noted a few things.  At the outset, the officers assess the situation from witnesses on scene.  The first responders take immediate action based on there being an armed, mentally ill (“Signal 0 with a knife, Signal 20.”) person holding a hostage inside the residence.  … Continue reading →

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New Morphix Technologies TraceX Explosives Detector Kits

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Randall

Morphix Technologies is releasing a new explosives detector kit, which is made to test for home made explosives (HME) and improvised explosive devices (IED).  I received a Morphix Chameleon Chemical Detector kit, which I reviewed in April of 2012.  It is good basic technology for the rank and file.  The Morphix TraceX HME kit tests for nine different explosive families in under three minutes with a single swabbing.  The results are clearly indicated in the window of the test box.  The kit is rugged and sealed in its own protective plastic case, which fits in a cargo pocket.  No word on pricing for the TraceX, but the Chameleon was running … Continue reading →

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St. Petersburg Police to Test StarChase Pursuit System

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Randall

About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article about the StarChase Pursuit Management System.  StarChase fires a GPS loaded projectile at a fleeing vehicle.  Once the projectile is attached, it allows the police to back off the pursuit and electronically follow the vehicle in hopes of a less volatile ending. Assistant Chief Melanie Bevans has said that the St. Petersburg Police will be trying out the StarChase technology because, “This is something that we have found that we think will make (pursuits) just a little less dangerous.”  Police chases resulted in 17 crashes in 2012 for the St. Petersburg Police.  St. Pete will be the first police … Continue reading →

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Zebra F-701 Pen Review

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Randall

Since moving to a plainclothes job, I started to re-examine my daily load out.  Seems it no longer qualifies as such.  The utility of a duty belt and cargo pockets has given way to the functionally spartan nature of dress shirts and slacks.  In both Patrol and CID, a writing instrument is required.  I decided I needed something less than a full blown “tactical pen,” but more than a plastic clicky pen.  Thus, I bought a Zebra F-701. An Internet darling, the Zebra F-701 is a stainless steel barreled retractable ballpoint pen with a 0.7mm fine writing tip.  The pen’s overall length is 5 3/8″ and its weight is 1.1 … Continue reading →

Posted in Detectives, Misc., Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , | 2 Comments