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Category Archives: Misc.
Surviving to Twenty-Five Part Three
I have spent uncounted hours over the decades, consoling and counseling co-workers with marital troubles. Why did people come to me? Because I am very happily into Year Nine of my third marriage. Although it’s none of your goddamn business, I have unfortunately suffered through some of the worst divorce drama that any of my three different lawyers said they had yet encountered. Yay, I win a prize. The demands of our work place can induce all manner of strife in our wedded relations. Shift work, Type A attitudes (yes, us), temptations, and general disillusionment with society can drive a wedge between a cop and his or her spouse. Once, … Continue reading
BladeArt.com Sells Black Site’s Carbon Fiber Chopsticks!
Who doesn’t need a chopstick that can withstand 500 degree Fahrenheit temps and about 1.8 million PSI of tensile stresses? We are talkin’ about eating Pho in the most dangerous places, safely! I saw these in BladeArt.com‘s showcase. Black Site‘s weapons-grade chopsticks come with a baked-on food safe proprietary coating. They are made from 100% solid carbon fiber that is Made and CNC Machined in the USA. The Hybrid are Black Site’s round cross-section chopsticks that measure 9″ long and taper from 0.3″ to 0.1″ for the last 4.5″ of the stick. These are $75.00. Fancy quadrangle (square at the large end) chopsticks are The MIB, which retail for $125.00. … Continue reading
Posted in Florida Companies, Humor, Misc.
Tagged Black Site, Blade Show 2013, BladeArt.com
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New CopDots Technology Aids Law Enforcement
CopDots™ is a unique method for marking personal property to deter theft and identify stolen items. Using an applicator pen, the owner marks a piece of property with tiny microdots the size of a grain of sand. The dots are laser etched with a personal identification number (PIN) that is registered to the owner. The PIN’s are stored in a secure international database, which is only accessible to law enforcement. The microdots are affixed with a special adhesive. The adhesive fluoresces under UV light. A 30X magnification is required to read the serial number. As an owner applied number, the PIN can be entered into NCIC/FCIC for later recovery of the … Continue reading
Posted in Misc., Technology
Tagged CopDots, CopDots DNA, DataDots Technology Ltd, FLEPRU, IACP, Recovering Stolen Property
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Looking for some NYC advice…
Hypothetically speaking, if I was in New York City for a few days (which I am), would I be in trouble if I showed up at La Guardia to check my firearm in luggage and had Speer Gold Dot hollow points in a manufacture’s container? My cousin, who is a Jersey cop, said they got a bulletin telling their guys not to carry hi-cap mags with hollow point bullets into the City, because NYC changed the laws in February to make these mags and bullets illegal with no provisions for LEOSA carry. I can’t seem to find anything on this online. Of course this is a purely an intellectual exercise, … Continue reading
Posted in Concealed Carry, Florida Companies, Misc.
Tagged Concealed Firearms Carry, LEOSA, New York City
3 Comments
Gov. Rick Scott Literally Shoots Down Police Drones
Okay, not literally, but I get a kick out of when people misuse the word. Anyway, Gov. Rick Scott signed into law this week legislation which will, in essence, keep law enforcement drones grounded by way of severe restrictions. Effective 6/1/2013, the Florida Freedom from Unwarranted Surveillance Act would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using an unmanned aerial vehicle (defined as a drone in the act) to gather evidence or other information, or from using evidence obtained or collected in violation of the act in any state court of law. A drone is defined as a powered, aerial vehicle that: 1. Does not carry a human operator; 2. Uses aerodynamic forces … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Legal, Misc., Technology
Tagged Florida and Drones, Gov. Rick Scott, Law Enforcement Surveillance, Police Drones, police technology
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Poor Judgment Leads to Police Sergeant’s Firing
This is a sample of the target that Sgt. Ron King of the Port Canaveral, FL Police Department wanted to use as a “training aid” during an April 2nd department firearms training. He was fired on Friday. The text of his explanation, which was posted on YouTube, is below. King’s version doesn’t quite jibe when you actually see the target. Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea? With a crosshair reticle? Come on… Randall “Good Evening, my name is Ron King and I am the focus of some recent media attention based on lies, false information and political agendas. “First, you’ll have to excuse me if I refer to my computer … Continue reading
Surviving to Twenty-Five Part Two
In the first part of Surviving to Twenty-Five, I yapped a bit about safety and diet and exercise. Another part of long-term officer survival is in the work arena. Over the years, I have collected a few tips for getting your career off to a good beginning. If you just had those patches sewn on your uniform shirts, the best tactic for you on the job is to keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth closed, except to ask questions. And, contrary to cliché, there is such a thing as a dumb question. It’s the one you have already asked more than once. Ours is a profession devoted … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Misc., Officer Safety
Tagged Officer Safety, Surviving Law Enforcement, Surviving to Twenty-Five
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Surviving to Twenty-Five
Several months ago, I crested the 25-year mark as a sworn police officer. More recently, I turned 50. I had some thoughts about surviving a law enforcement career for a quarter of a century that I would like to share. I will get this one out of the way right off. Continue your officer safety training and mindset throughout your whole career, regardless of your job description. Everything else on which I will comment has no bearing if you do not live to fight another day. Always be aware of your surroundings and think tactically on and off duty. What would I do if X, Y, or Z happened right … Continue reading
Posted in Humor, Medical, Misc., Off Duty, Officer Safety
Tagged Officer Safety, Surviving Law Enforcement, Surviving to Twenty-Five
4 Comments
Holiday Suck
Two of my good friends, who formerly worked at my department, got into an OIS in a neighboring city. God Bless them and their families. Thankfully they prevailed… Randall
Posted in Misc.
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Thoughts from the Week…
I have some random observations from this week. The first is from dinner with a couple of the guys. The conversation was dominated by a discussion of hardening up our schools. All the officers at the dinner have young kids. After Sandy Hook, the dads are pretty focused on safety in the educational environment. This week, we received training at Read Off on changes to photo pack procedures that have been “mandated” by the State Attorney’s Office. Not well received by the officers. It seems the Innocence Project, who fathered the changes, had police misconduct and potential witness misidentification as prime motivators– and did I mention police misconduct? The new … Continue reading
Posted in Misc.
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SWAT Round-Up International This Week in Orlando
I’ll be heading over to Orlando tomorrow to check out the vendors at SWAT Round-Up International. We were not able to send a team over this year due to budget constraints–again. It is a shame, because the classes are valuable and the competition is a good exercise in team-building. I competed at SWAT Round-Up in the 1990’s and one last time in 2006. I felt it bettered my knowledge and skills each time. I’ll let you know if I see anything new and interesting… Randall
An Act of Kindness in a Viral World
This photo went viral from NYPD’s FaceBook page. It shows Ofc. Larry DePrimo giving a pair of socks and winter boots he purchased to a homeless man. It has kind of a Norman Rockwell-esque feel that I think portrays an ideal of the Patrolman that is from a bygone era. I have recollections of officers giving money, meals, and personal items to people in need under all manner of conditions. I once watched one of our officers, who was universally detested by the squad, give his foot-long sub sandwich to a homeless guy. “Yeah, you need this more than I do.” Another officer went out and bought toothpaste, milk, and … Continue reading
Happy Thanksgiving Day
A bit late, but I didn’t feel like wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day until we got all our guys and gals home safe from tonight’s holiday shift. Now I’m thankful. I appreciate the sacrifices made by those who would rather be with loved ones than out wrestling with the less than civil part of our citizenry. I will tip a single malt scotch whisky to the Thin Blue Line shortly. And one to our forgiving families. Randall
Posted in Humor, Misc.
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NASGW Expo Coverage at GHG
Richard from GunsHolstersandGear.com is over at the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers Expo and Meeting in Orlando. The NASGW Expo is an exposition of hunting, sporting goods, and shooting sports equipment and accessories by wholesalers, manufacturers, and independent sales representatives. Follow the coverage here: GHG NASGW Randall
Posted in Media, Misc., SHOT Show
Tagged National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers
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Police Field Training and Natural Selection
I am no longer an active Field Training Officer, but I am now in charge of them on my shift. As an FTO supervisor, I had the duty this week of accepting the resignation of one of our recruit officers. It’s part of our natural selection. For the last twenty-plus years, I have been involved in this drill in one capacity or another. We hire a nice kid, see him/her through the Academy, mold them further during department familiarization, then introduce them to the real job in a field training car. Percentages vary class by class, but generally anywhere from 10-50% of our recruits do not make it to being … Continue reading
Posted in Misc., Officer Safety, Street
Tagged FTO, Police Field Training Officer, Rookie Cop
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