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 JUNE 2017 VOLUME XXIV NO. 6 ➤ PRICE $4.95 ➤ www.APBweb.com 34 10 Top Ten List 16 Opinion/Editorial 34 In the Line of Duty Inside News You Can Use BACK THE BLUE Forget the haters – there are still plenty of people that take action when a police officer finds him- or herself in trouble. PLUS . . . 25 ONE LAST PUSH! “Hey honey, how was your day?” Oh, it was pretty good. Me and the chief delivered a baby. 07 DEADLY KILLER It’s not sexy enough for cable news or Facebook but a lot of police fa- cilities are so toxic they represent a clear and present danger. Denver Police supporter Marsha Berger hugs Lt. Jeffrey Martinez after Marti- nez accepted a “Citizens Appreciate Police” award at Denver Police District 3 Station. Martinez was given the award for organizing an effort to collect men’s business suits from fellow officers for a non-profit called Suits-For-Success that helps those trying to get back into the workforce after falling on tough times. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post via Getty Images) by Ken Crane In 20 plus years of being a police officer, I have never seen our acad- emy in such a poor state of affairs. More worrisome is that the acad- emy is being led in an irresponsible way. We have all heard about and have been trained in 21st Century Polic- ing. Those of us who look past the smoke and mirrors know there isn’t anything new about it. For decades, recruits have been taught about de-escalation – that they should use the least amount of force necessary, that they need to treat people with due respect, and that our work must be done with the highest level of integrity. The academy of today fails in a very important area, the simple fact Two steps backwards We’re failing the next generation of officers – inadequate training by Lisa Garmezy Maybe it’s anxiety, maybe it’s de- pression, or maybe it’s both. Maybe yours is a unique brand of misery that defies categorization. If you need mental health help but have hesitated, please reconsider. Nationally, the fear of rejection, discrimination or failure keeps peo- ple out of mental health treatment and causes those who do go to drop out early. Emergency responders, It’s about damn time When cops get help with the stress of the job, everyone wins Continued on page 24 Continued on page 38 by Sally Hernandez, Lupe Valdez, Ed Gonzalez, Javier Salazar and Richard Wiles We believe locally elected sheriffs know the needs of their communities better than state and national leaders who are currently trying to tie our hands. Our communities each have unique public safety and law enforce- ment needs that should not be under- mined by unfunded state mandates as authored in Senate Bill 4. If passed, SB 4 would coerce local law enforcement to dedicate scarce resources — such as jail space, on- duty officers and local tax dollars — to a job that is supposed to be done and funded by the federal govern- ment. While it is in the interest of federal agencies to let local law enforcement do its job, the costs will be entirely It’s about who you trust Continued on page 22 Nothing to see here. Just a cop and some goats in a cruiser. To check it out, see story on page 9.