Department health officers
Why wellness really does matter
If you have a malfunction or want to update the trigger on your firearm, you bring it to the armorer. If there’s an issue with your cruiser, you fill out a slip and […] Read More
September 2021
Not a bad apple; a bruised one
A former captain of mine, now a chief at another department, recently asked me how we can better screen officers in the pre–employment process. He seemed to be concerned about officers leaving the […] Read More
Understanding and combating officer burnout
It’s no secret that law enforcement is a demanding profession. Long hours and high-stress situations can easily lead to burnout. Just like there is no way to predict the situations each officer will […] Read More
Wellness programs aren’t working – Try this instead
Thousands of takes on how to improve policing over the past 12 months have called for additions to the curriculum, like de-escalation or empathy training. Those certainly have value, but there is a […] Read More
Mentors in law enforcement
Larry Wallace was the first person I met when I moved to town. I was slated to start my duties as the new chief the next morning, but my new city manager was […] Read More
Hybrid crisis intervention
Understanding the need for collaborative crisis services
Law enforcement has been propelled into the national spotlight. Calls for police reform and changes to responses have been center stage. Suggestions for alternative responses to some calls have sprung up, and the […] Read More
Crisis creates opportunity
A dozen things every chief and sheriff should do right now
One day, we’ll look back at our present embattled law enforcement era with enlightened eyes. We’ll have a clearer understanding of what happened to our profession and why. Right or wrong, it’ll be […] Read More
Advancing peer support
Reactive, proactive and coactive wellness MODELS
As an officer, admitting you have a need for support and reaching out can be difficult. In a reactive wellness program, an individual must self-identify their need for contact and find the appropriate […] Read More
Enforcing little laws prevents big crimes
Crime prevention, deterrence and displacement sound like great theories in a college class. How can patrol officers and deputies turn those theories into something useful? When you talk crime prevention, most officers don’t […] Read More
Cops and Therapy
We resist being psychoanalyzed when we really need help
I should acknowledge at the outset of this piece that I was no stranger to therapy before I became a police officer. My parents got divorced when I was young, and I got […] Read More
The Ten Commandments of winning the war against terrorism — 20 years later
On September 11, 2001, Cop 2 Cop peer support program staff in New Jersey provided peer and crisis support to officers most impacted by the terrorist disaster, which continued for over a decade. […] Read More
9/11 cop sees sunlight through his darkness
Will Jimeno lie in a hospital bed in 2001, never thinking his new police career was coming to an end. Being a police officer was in Jimeno’s plans from childhood. There is a […] Read More
The mother of all suicide prevention campaigns
What: the “mother of all battles” This literally means “the great battle,” “the mighty battle,” perhaps “the decisive battle.” We entered the battle in 2018. It is a long war. Our army is […] Read More
Courage in the face of terror
A look back on 9/11, 20 years later
Twenty years ago, our country experienced the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history. Nearly 3,000 people were killed when four hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a […] Read More
