Inside Order your own MONTHLY subscription today. Call 1-800-234-0056 or go to www.apbweb.com T H E V O I C E O F T H E N A T I O N ’ S L A W E N F O R C E M E N T C O M M U N I T Y MAY 2017 VOLUME XXIV NO. 5 ➤ PRICE $4.95 ➤ www.APBweb.com 38 10 Top Ten List 16 Opinion/Editorial 38 In the Line of Duty HONORING FALLEN Police Week falls in the middle of May every year. It’s a time to honor those who paid the ultimate price to serve and protect. PLUS . . . 22 TWITTER SLAM Cop critic insults officer on social media and gets humiliated as a result. 06 HE’S NOT A COP Efforts to crack down on police impersonators face an uphill battle due to the booming private secu- rity industry. Some cops work with no backup? Two-man patrols not close to viable in rural areas where officers are stretched thin It’s not just families in burning build- ings and people ODing on heroin cops are saving these days. It’s also eagles, llamas and just about any- thing that walks or crawls. Page 9. by Mark Nichols If you’re in law enforcement working in a major metro area like Philadelphia or Brooklyn, you know that when the “officer down” or “of- ficer in need of assistance” goes out on the radio, the cavalry is en route to your location. There are no guarantees, of course, and no matter how fast your backup arrives at the scene you can still wind up dead or seriously injured. But for some law enforcement pro- fessionals, especially those working out in the sticks, the terrifying fact of Chicago police officers walk near the scene where four people were shot and killed at a restaurant. A second shooting took place right after the restaurant shooting less than two miles away. A pregnant woman was shot and killed. (Photo by Joshua Lott/Getty Images) by Cynthia Brown Why are local law enforcement agencies struggling to hire new cops and retain those already on the job? Ask different people and you’ll get different answers. Many police officers will say it’s the “war on cops” and the increase in attacks on officers like we saw in Dallas and Baton Rouge, among other places. Others, including those that fol- low law enforcement closely, say it’s more complicated than that. One of the reasons people tra- ditionally choose law enforcement Attacked, vilified and angry The question isn’t why no one wants to be a cop anymore. The real question is: why would they? Continued on page 26 Continued on page 30 Continued on page 38 Honoring our Fallen by Jaclyn Barrientes Tens of thousands of law enforce- ment officers, along with their fami- lies and supporters, will stand on the National Mall in Washington, DC this month, in honor of their fallen brothers and sisters. As the sun sets on our nation’s capital, a soft glow of candlelight will grow, and the names of 394 officers will be dedicated on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memo- rial. Police Week 2017 – an amazing experience Police Week 2017