BACK IN THE DAY Nothing bad happens on my beat 15 Apr 201930 Apr 2019 Today everyone has the right to die on the streets under the meanest of circumstances as a powerless police officer looks on. It was not always thus and recent extreme…
COMMENT Gaining a level of trust in police 25 Jul 201816 Aug 2018 Many senior police managers fall into a state of apoplectic shock when reporters come knocking with a negative story. They hunker down in their bunkers and wave patriotic flags and…
COMMENT Resisting the allure of a larger agency 18 Jun 201826 Jun 2018 So many people think they know everything about policing, yet no other field of endeavour is more misunderstood by so many. A steady diet of police shows and movies make…
COMMENT Whose side is God on anyway? 29 May 20184 Jun 2018 All police officers are required to take an oath of office, a ritual that goes back beyond the beginning of modern policing. The basic text has remained remarkably consistent throughout…
COMMENT A call for a little revenge 1 May 201811 May 2018 He was perhaps 19 or 20 years old. His youthful wrinkle-free face betrayed an attempt to look hardened and contemptuous. A police officer proudly standing beside him told me…
COMMENT Mission creep in firearms training 11 Apr 20182 May 2018 The bank alarm call was only a block away on Toronto's Yonge Street so I told the dispatcher my partner and I would check it out. Working in the fraud…
COMMENT Reality TV… at a whole new level 4 Apr 201812 Apr 2018 The recent hot media incidents featuring police body cameras raises a few points of concern. My first and most enduring concern is how naive many police agencies can be about…
BACK IN THE DAY The difference between a good cop and just another cop 28 Mar 20184 Apr 2018 When I was taken off regular beat patrol and assigned a scout car I felt like I had been promoted. As was the practice then, I was partnered with a…
BACK IN THE DAY If the walls could talk 19 Jan 20182 May 2018 Drive south along Toronto’s Yonge Street and just north of Eglinton you might spot an old brown-stone building on the west side of the street which more recently has been…
COMMENT Overseas missions must consider a hierarchy of needs 21 May 201723 Jul 2017 Sending Canadian police officers on “training missions” to teach people how to police in a war zone is complete folly. The citizenry will probably not understand the difference between police…
BACK IN THE DAY… Take back the streets… or go for a coffee 21 May 201723 Jul 2017 While patrolling a high crime neighbourhood I heard a report of an armed robbery at an all night gas bar. Several cars responded and called out a description of a…
BEHIND THE BLUE LINE 