Category Archives: Street

Debrief That Patrol Incident

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Randall

We went on quite a few hot calls in the last couple of shifts.  One in particular had some valuable lessons that deserved time in a debriefing.  A “Shots Fired” came in to our Dispatch Center.  Units were sent to the general area.  Nothing was found at first. When one of the officers went to speak with a complainant, he heard gunfire from several houses to the west.  More officers arrived.  Just prior to my pulling on scene, the troops had focused in on a particular house on the block.  Officers were sent to surround it.  There was no valid phone number to the home.  We cautiously made contact with … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Street | 1 Comment

New Charter Arms Pitbull .40 S&W Revolver Review

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Randall

…Updated below… BlueSheepdog Richard and I went to the range a couple of months ago to get some trigger time with a mixed bag of pistols and revolvers.  One of the wheelguns he brought was the unique Charter Arms Pitbull.  The Pitbull is a .40 S&W cal. revolver, which was formerly called the CARR, for Charter Arms Rimless Revolver. The Pitbull was made to fire a rimless auto-pistol cartridge without the use of full or half moon clips.  Integral to their design is a dual coil spring loaded extractor, which engages the case rim and ejects the spent rounds. Originally, Charter Arms’ idea was to provide a revolver that was … Continue reading →

Posted in Concealed Carry, Firearms, Off Duty, SHOT Show, Street | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

New COAST Products Rapid Response Knife Video Review

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Randall

This is a video review of the COAST Products Rapid Response Folding Knife.  The knife makes me smile for several reasons.  First, it is very well made.  The production values are high and the knife has a quality feel.  It is inexpensive.  Not cheap, inexpensive.  The knife in the video, which is the 3.9″ 5Cr15MoV satin-finished blade can be purchased for only $41.49 (three dollars more for a black coated blade).  Lastly, the knife performs well. COAST Products, which began as COAST Cutlery, has been a family-owned Oregon business since 1919.  Although the company began making knives, the current product line includes LED lights and multi-tools.  I have a COAST … Continue reading →

Posted in Knives, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Florida Attorney General’s Efforts Curbing Pill Mills

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Randall

Florida has been a major player in the prescription drug abuse epidemic in this country, but efforts by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi have reduced the flow of addictive pain pills onto the streets. It is no secret that Bondi made pill mills and prescription drug abuse a priority when she made the move to Tallahassee in January of 2011.  Initially, her ideas were met with a cool reception in the governor’s office, but over the last year things have thawed and new enforcement strategies are paying off. At a press conference Wednesday, Bondi, Governor Rick Scott, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey, and Department of Health Interim … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Misc., Street | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Florida Forms Police Crash Task Force—For No Good Reason

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Randall

A State Task Force has been empaneled to study police vehicle crashes.  The Governor’s Office has appointed Florida Highway Patrol Director Col. David Brierton Jr., Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, and Winter Park Police Chief Brett Railey to study law enforcement training, agency policies, and crash data.  I do not see why. The Orlando Sentinel boasts the State Task Force was formed based upon the newspaper’s series of articles about police crashes and public safety. Sentinel reporters studied crash statistics from 2006 to 2010 and tallied an average of 7,400 police car crashes per year, causing 2,400 injuries, 20 deaths, and $25 million in property damage. One Sentinel article states, … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal, Misc., Street | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

New Benchmade 176BK SOCP Knife Review

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Randall

U.S. Military Special Operations Forces operators needed a purpose-designed knife for urban close quarters battle, based on their experiences with house-to-house fighting in the Sandbox.  Special Forces Combatives Program (SOCP) developer Greg Thompson made it happen. Thompson, a trainer of SF soldiers for over 12 years and Director of Training for the XVIII Airborne Corps in Ft. Bragg, NC, collaborated with the Benchmade Knife Company, Inc. to produce what he felt was the solution to an edgy problem. The Benchmade 176BK SOCP dagger is made for low profile carry, ease of accessibility on a combat load-out, and pure function in CQB.  Sounds like something useful to domestic SWAT operators and … Continue reading →

Posted in Knives, Officer Safety, Street, SWAT | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Police Training

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Randall

We sometimes focus too much on technology and equipment in the law enforcement profession.  Real officer safety starts in the brain. In the wake of a critical incident earlier last year, my department decided to send a group of officers to Crisis Intervention Team training.  In a nutshell, the forty-hour CIT training block provides a unique insight into mental illness and how law enforcement can more effectively deal with those in crisis. After taking the CIT course, I can attest to its resolute commitment to officer safety.  From the outset, the instructors stressed that officer safety is of primary importance in dealing with mentally ill persons, and this course was … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ofc. David Crawford Murdered A Year Ago Today

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Randall

One year ago today, St. Petersburg Police Ofc. David S. Crawford was murdered in the line of duty by Nicholas Lindsey.  St. Petersburg Police was still reeling from the murders of Sgt. Tom Baitinger and K9 Ofc. Jeffrey Yaslowitz, less than a month earlier. To say our local law enforcement community was crushed would be a severe understatement.  Many of the officers and deputies involved in the manhunt for Lindsey were also involved in the response and investigation of the previous officers’ killings. My department had a large class of rookies in field training.  I guess it didn’t hurt for the sober realities of this profession to hit them early.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Down, Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Police Profiling for Officer Safety

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Randall

I was driving to work last night in my personal car.  My route takes me through a relatively rundown section of the city where I work.  I always tend to scan around as I drive, which sometimes prompts my wife to say, “Stop patrolling!” On this night, I saw some people walking around and from the anonymity of my own car, I thought about the nature of my observations as a citizen verses those of a law enforcement officer.  A red light stopped me at a cross street. A young black male was walking up to the intersection.  I gave him the once over:  baggy black basketball shorts, loose black … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, Street | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Voodoo Tactical Armor Carrier Review

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Randall

Despite the fact that the trunk of my Crown Victoria Police Interceptor resembles a scaled down version of our Tactical Room, I have gone out and bought a Voodoo Tactical 20-8399 Plate Carrier to add some serious protection to my kit. Bailout bags are all the rage. I prefer a bailout load-bearing vest for patrol work, for that time when you need extra ammo, medical equipment, and basic tools in a critical incident.  I’m now going up the ante and say an armor plate carrier is the best bet of all three options. When working the street, we wear soft body armor.  It should be NIJ Standard 0101.06 Level IIIa.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Officer Safety, SHOT Show, Street | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

A Rookie Cop on Midnight Shift

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Randall

Our squad has quite a few officers with less than a year of experience.  Welcome to Midnight Shift. At ReadOff, the other Sergeant and I looked out at a room full of rookies.  At our recent shift change, we inherited a bunch of FNG’s. Nice. They are sharp and eager, but not yet skilled.  For one rookie, it was his very first Midnight Tour. Less than one half hour into his shift, the rookie called out that he was in a foot pursuit!  Upon arriving at a domestic disturbance, he saw the male-half walking away down the street.  The rookie beckoned the man to “Stop Police!”  The suspect ran and … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Street | Leave a comment