Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I often wonder at what impact the national news media has on law enforcement’s policy development and evolution. Usually such wonderment is caused when I read about an incident that has been 1) greatly sensationalized, 2) causes deeply conflicting opinion, and 3) has the potential to change the direction of law enforcement. Just recently such an incident occurred. In this article we read about a Tennessee officer who arrested a man who was rushing his wife to the hospital. Normally that’s not big news. What made it so controversial is that the officer charged the driver with seven felonies which is easily perceived as a bit excessive, and the public outrage that seems to be building against an enforcement action taken in the face of a medical emergency. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

After the horrific attack at Columbine occurred there was a surge of new training and tactics amongst patrol officers nationwide. We generically call this tactical evolution Active Shooter Response. Throughout this article I will refer to this via the acronym for Active Shooter / Immediate Response or ASIR, and as you see, I tend to focus on the immediate part. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

In this article contributors Michael Wasilewski and Althea Olson discuss the ethical dilemma some police administrators and executives face when considering the necessity and value of traffic enforcement as a revenue raising tool. The ugly truth of it is that ANY administrator has to worry about budgets. The challenge for law enforcement administrators is to make the politicians understand that enforcing the law can never be about raising funds. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I had the great pleasure of being a guest on NRA News Radio last evening (Tuesday, 5/4/10) in the 11:20 pm time spot. The topic of discussion was how early release of convicted criminals (usually felons) can make our law enforcement job more difficult. Just in recent weeks we’ve seen several police officers killed by convicted felons who were released early “for good behavior” or for whatever other reason. The bottom line is that if they hadn’t been released then they wouldn’t hve been free to murder police officers. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

As I sat down to start typing this my first thought was, No matter what I say about this someone is going to accuse me of being racist. Was I being cynical? or realistic? A bit of both I think. Certainly, after over two decades in police work I’ve got a level of cynicism that is probably “above the norm”. However, if you take an objective look at reactions to immigration enforcement nationwide I think you have to honestly admit that some of the reactions are “knee jerk” and accusations of racism are made before any logical thought process can occur. With that in mind I tried, as objectively as possible, to examine my own outlooks and beliefs and temper my writing accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

In a relatively recent article from Ralph Mroz of the Police Officers Safety Association, he discussed the militarization of police. The article inspired some discussion and it’s interesting (gently put) to see the different outlooks folks have about things as simple as what color uniform an officer should wear or - and the topic of this blog - what kind of weapon he should be allowed to have.

I’ve always been a “gun guy”. Since I was very little I was exposed to firearms as tools to accomplish a given task whether it be hunting for food, protecting one’s home or defending yourself or someone else - guns always had a purpose. That’s never held a negative connotation in my mind. However, I fully understand that to plenty of other people in our country, guns are viewed as inherently evil and unnecessary in a civil society. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

My last two blog entries have been about Professional Courtesy and Firearms Training respectively. One commenter on the Professional Courtesy blog pointed out that I was (essentially) touching the third rail of journalism. I have to concede that he was right; that particular blog entry generated a high number of comments and some, ah, highly motivated back-and-forth between readers. The Firearms Training has received only one comment so far. I find it interesting that a blog regarding training practices that potentially have a direct impact on officer survival rates in lethal force encounters receives so little comment but the blog about (essentially) a social practice is received so explosively. That realization made me think… Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

As I type this I just posted an article written by contributor Kevin Davis on the necessity of preparing both the mind and body if we expect to achieve victory in violent encounters during the course of performing our duties. Kevin correctly stressed the need to prepare ourselves mentally, emotionally and physically for such encounters. In one part of the article he makes the statement that qualification is not training; it’s demonstration that an officer can meet certain minimum requirements. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Recently I noticed that a lot of comments about one article centered around professional courtesy. The article was about an officer who stopped a car/driver for drunk driving only to find the driver was a fellow police officer. Through the course of events the drunk driving off-duty cop somehow ended up in the on-duty cop’s K9 cage. Of course, this is “news”. But all the comments about professional courtesy got me thinking (yeah, I do that on occasion). Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

As the editor for Officer.com I’ve recently been presented with some questions, comments and observations that have made me think. I’ve found myself contemplating everything from privacy issues to contributor qualifications to how I moderate comments and the forums. Since our readership is obviously the heart and soul of our website service, I thought it might be prudent to share some of that with you. Read the rest of this entry »