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 JULY 2017 VOLUME XXIV NO. 7 ➤ PRICE $4.95 ➤ www.APBweb.com 36 10 Top Ten List 16 Opinion/Editorial 34 In the Line of Duty Inside News You Can Use DIANA No, not that one. We’re talking about the Queen of the Amazons. Check out APB’s review of the new “Wonder Woman” movie. PLUS . . . 21 BIG WIN Police association masterfully navigates a campaign to put more civilians on review boards. 09 STONE KILLER Got mice? Just get a cat. When an agency had some vermin issues, they went out and got Watson. Now the cat’s a local rock star. AP Wide World Photo The May 1st parade this year celebrating International Workers Day, started as a peaceful demonstration until some of the protesters turned violent. Portland, Oregon SWAT cops responded to the scene. (Photo by Diego G Diaz/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) by Jose Torres “I loved being a police officer. And for them to say because of this incident you’re not going to continue here was heartbreaking.” Those are the words of Stephen Mader, one of the first officers in American history who was fired not because he shot someone, but because he didn’t. Mader was terminated by his bosses at the Weirton, West Virginia Police Department after failing to shoot an emotionally disturbed man during a call last June. “It had me questioning myself. Should I be an officer?” The call involved a man named Ronald J. Williams. A female caller told the 911 oper- Fired for judgment A controversial UOF has lots of cops talking by Cynthia Brown One of the upsides of abandoning at least the most ridiculous part of the costly, counterproductive and increasingly unpopular drug war is trying to figure out what to do with the money. In Colorado, where voters made their voices heard years ago, it will soon be against the law in Colorado to lock people in jail when they are picked up on mental health holds. Thanks to $9.5 million in mari- Resources really help Revenues allow for creation of mental health response teams Continued on page 24 Continued on page 32 Continued on page 38 Officer Lindsey Bittorf donated one of her kidneys to Jackson Arneson. Read this heart-warming story on page 21. UOF policies get makeover by Mark Nichols De-escalation continues to be what almost everyone in the industry is talking about. Some are calling for more while others say it’s a sure-fire way to get more law enforcement people killed and should be avoided like a venereal disease. But let’s start out with an English lesson. According to Merriam-Webster’s, “de-escalate” is a transitive verb meaning “to decrease in extent, volume, or scope.” Or think about it in terms of this metaphor. A person comes home and finds their spouse very upset. They could escalate the situation by saying: “What the hell are you crying for? I’m the one that has to work!” Or they could de-escalate the situation with a comment more like