Hiring a Police Chief

The need to conduct a national search for a Police Chief in urban communities seems to indicate that there are no qualified candidates within their hundred or thousands of officers. If that is accurate, there is something sadly wrong with the recruiting, training and promotion of officers in that agency. The Cincinnati, Ohio Police Department […]

Qualified Immunity

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, Ohio, known as one of the more liberal Appellate Courts, has reversed a Federal District Court ruling denying qualified immunity to deputies involved in a fatal shooting in Tennessee. The case, Cunningham v. Shelby County, Tennessee (6th Cir. 2021) 994 F.3d 761 revolves around a woman […]

Weaponizing Federal Law Enforcement

The Department of Justice announced that they have charged the four police officers who were involved with the death of George Floyd. They took this action even though Derek Chauvin had already been convicted in state court and the other three officers are awaiting trial. The officers are charged with violating Floyd’s civil rights under […]

Louisville, Ky.

The Attorney General announced that the Civil Rights Division will open an investigation into the policies and practice of the Louisville, Kentucky Metro Police Department. That announcement was followed by a press conference in Louisville where the newly appointed Police Chief and political leaders who announced their total support of the investigation. The result is […]

Vengeance or Justice

The real question is whether the protestors outside of the Hennepin County Court House in Minneapolis are seeking justice in the death of George Floyd or whether they actually just want vengeance. The Murder trial of the police officer seen on video kneeling on the neck of Mr. Floyd started this week with the selection […]

A fitting tribute

Officer Brian Sicknick became one of only five civilians to lay in state in the Capitol rotunda in what was a fitting salute to a true hero. His remains were moved to a waiting hearse with two lines of Capitol Police officers and hundreds more standing at attention in formation on a cold Washington morning. […]

We have reached FailSafe

It was never about “defund the police.” It was never about “Trump is not my President.” It was never about “Black Lives Matter.” It is not about conservative or liberal or republican or democrat. It is all about the intolerance of people who disagree are the enemy and they must be destroyed. Violence should not […]

Smell the coffee Chicago

With record breaking violence in many big cities across the country, police agencies are looking at ways to reduce the numbers. Cincinnati, Ohio, in conjunction with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio announced a program which should have an impact on the violence. Cincinnati has already […]

The stupidity of politicians

The City Council of Louisville, Kentucky just passed an ordinance prohibiting “NO KNOCK” warrants within the City of Louisville. The death of Breonna Taylor is a tragedy. Louisville narcotics officers served a NO KNOCK warrant on a drug dealer, but served it at the wrong house. Taylor’s boyfriend opened fire when the officers made entry […]

George Floyd

George Floyd did not deserve to die in the manner that he did and his death was the result of a criminal act by a Minneapolis Police Officer. That said, his death was not worthy of all five major networks covering every minute of the services in his behalf. There has never been national coverage […]

Changing Minds

At the close of the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, TN, where I was signing my police novels, a woman walked up and told me that police officers need to be screened better. I asked her what she meant and she responded that the psychological screening was woefully lacking. I informed her that the […]

The Police Chief

This is a young man with college scholarships and the offer of a professional baseball contract straight out of high school.  Instead, he becomes a police cadet for the city of Cincinnati, then a police officer, and rises to the rank of police chief.  

The bias in the media

WCPO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio recently aired a “hatchet” piece about police use of force created by their I-TEAM. The piece focused on a vehicle pursuit in Newport, Kentucky, a small city directly across from Cincinnati. Using body camera video obtained from the Police Department, the story claimed that the force used on […]

The Visuals tell the story

Law enforcement has always been known as a brotherhood, but a recent example shows the truth of that statement. A Chattanooga, TN. police officer was struck and killed one month after his graduation from the Police Academy. Nicholas Galinger was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and needed to be transported there for his funeral and burial. […]

Entertainment television at its worst

The advantage to writing fiction is the opportunity to change or modify the beginning, middle or outcome of reality. The downside of turning reality into fiction is that the viewer or reader may actually believe the fiction to be reality. Writers, directors and producers from the left and the right coast have decided to inject […]

Nashville Police Officer charged in shooting

A twenty-five year old Nashville, Tennessee police officer has been charged with felony Criminal Homicide after shooting a twenty-eight year old suspect. The facts of this case are convoluted as Nashville Police became involved in a vehicle pursuit of a carjacking suspect who was able to elude them. A police radio broadcast was initiated and […]

Is it Murder?

A Texas jury has convicted a police officer of a Murder charge in the death of a fifteen year old. The officer invoked “Defense of another” as his justification for the use of lethal force, but the jury heard from the officer who he claimed to be defending testified that he was never in fear […]

This is outrageous

Violent protests broke out in Chicago after a police shooting that were based upon LIES promulgated by the group Black Lives Matter. It was claimed that the individual shot was unarmed when, in fact, pictures show he had a holstered semi-automatic handgun on his right side as well as extra magazines on his belt. It […]

Thoughts on School Safety

The recent shooting in a school in Florida has raised a firestorm of issues relating to school safety. Calls for restricting the sale of assault weapons, arming teachers and staff in the schools, mental health reforms, and hiring a professional security staff for all schools. All of these have pros and cons and this article […]

A different standard for police use of force

The United States Supreme Court has written the legal standard for police use of force in the Graham and Garner cases. The standards and clear and explicit in all courts in the United States to legal experts and criminal justice practitioners, but can be confusing to the general public. It is time to create a […]

Another case of political correctness

In yet another blatant example of political correctness, the City of Cleveland, Ohio has fired a 19 year veteran following his bench trial acquittal of misdemeanor Negligent Homicide charges. Office Alan Buford and another officer responded to a break-in at a Cleveland grocery store in 2015. Officer Buford fired a single shot claiming that the […]