March 2017

Please Retire These Range Sayings!

Todd Fletcher  There are a number of catchphrases which firearms instructors have been repeating over and over for what seems like an eternity. Regardless of the instructor’s home base, these phrases are generally accepted and repeated throughout the country without a great deal of critical thought. Instead of offering help to our students, the use of these phrases oftentimes contributes to a lack of improvement. From this point forward, I suggest we stop using the following phrases and truly focus…


5 Effective Ways to Reconnect with Your Community

Kathryn Loving People have stopped talking to each other, and it didn’t happen overnight. Technology has grown so fast that most of us can’t keep up. Suddenly, it’s easier to text, tweet or “like” than talk, yet the absence of human contact and interpersonal relationships leave out a basic psychological need – the need to communicate face-to-face. Police are not immune to this reality and, in fact, law enforcement has had to adapt their methods of communication in order to…


Developing the Next Generation of Police Leadership

Christa M. Miller What are some of the best practices which commanders can utilize to foster millennial officers’ educational aspirations? It may be an understatement to say that American policing has become exponentially more complex in the decade and a half since 9/11. A greater emphasis on local level homeland security has gone hand in hand with higher demand for better response tactics toward the mentally ill, minority communities and other groups. Agencies need officers who can think their way…


WHAT’S HOT FROM SHOT? The 26th Annual Roundup Covering New Firearms

  The 26th Annual Roundup Covering New Firearms of Most Interest to Law Enforcement The SHOT Show might be best described as the world’s largest gun fair where new offerings from manufacturers, large and small, are displayed. This year’s event was held on January 17 – 20, 2017, at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas and it drew over 60,000 attendees. With over 1600 vendors, it is impossible to see it all. As always, there were surprises and variations…


Law Enforcement Leadership March/April 2017

  Don’t Put Up with Poor Performers Do any of you play in those “Fantasy Sports Team” Leagues? What a great concept: You can pick the best players for your team based on their past performance and potential. And, you can also try to balance your “picks” based on what position you need to fill on your team and how each of your picks might work best with the other “handpicked” players. Your list of potential players starts with the…


Busted! – Real Stories of Genuine Absurdity March/April 2017

Morgan Stanley has nothing on this guy’s investment strategy… After winning a scratch off lottery prize last year of $3 million in Waycross, Georgia, a 45-year-old man must surely have thought the “odds” were with him all the way – because he soon flipped the money into a Georgia methamphetamine gang. Unfortunately, the “bet” went sour and now he faces decades in prison after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and firearms violation. He was busted after he and his…


…AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH March/April 2017

We’re a quarter of the way through 2017 and my home state of Florida is keeping its reputation for bizarre criminal justice news well in the forefront. You just can’t make this stuff up. However, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the image of the “Smallest Police Station in the World” (it’s a phone booth) located in the quiet fishing village of Carrabelle, FL, on US 98 at the corner of CR67. Do you want to learn more? Log on to their Web…