Explorations in Policing, Faith and Life (With a hint of humor, product reviews, news and whatever catches my attention)

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Happy New Year


Leviticus 26:9-11

9 " 'I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. 10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. 11 I will put my dwelling place [a] among you, and I will not abhor you.


May you see and find all of his blessings for you and your family in the year to come.

Happy New Year one and all.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas


Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Andy Pettitte



Andy Pettitte wrote the following in his 2005 oeuvre Strike Zone: Targeting a Life of Integrity and Purity by Andy Pettitte and Bob Reccord with Mark Tabb:

As a Christian I also have one goal. I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life. I constantly ask myself "What does God want me to do?" and "Where does He want me to go?" Those may sound like odd questions to ask in a book about purity. After all, doesn't purity just mean sexual purity? Hardly. As I said in the last chapter, living a pure life means trying to please God in everything I do. And the best way to please God is living in a way He can work through me and use me in other people's lives.

Then Andy Pettitte cheated and used HGH to speed through an injury in the 2002 season. His testimony for Christ would have been better now if he never said anything at all, rather than look like the hypocrite he has become.

WE are not perfect and Jesus has provided the forgiveness for what we have done, what we are doing and what we will do. However taking a public stand means that you are holding yourself to a higher standard and scrutiny. If your walk is weak in anyway withhold yourself from being a teacher and rather be just a living example for Christ. Andy set himself up as a teacher, instructing others about Christianity and thus placed himself within that arc of responsibility.

James 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

When you place yourself as an instructor of heavenly things and then fail your failure is not simply a consequence to your walk but to all that ever looked to you. Be true to yourself and acknowledge you may not be ready to teach others about Christ just because you may have an audience that would want you to. Then when you are ready hold firm and do not weaver in your commitment to live out the principles that you expound or others will suffer as a result of your personal foolishness.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Chrsitmas Presents for Police Officers-The Pen


It is very helpful having a pen that will write through carbons, can get wet, will not freeze and that can be knocked around. Fisher Space Pen

· Writes underwater
· Writes upside down and at any angle
· Writes twice as long as other roller ball pens
· The most dependable, reliable, and versatile pen in the world

The Fisher Space pen ink cartridge is the key to its superiority. It is pressurized with 35 pounds per square inch of gas. This pressure pushes on the sliding float ball allowing our unique thixotropic ink to flow smoothly in the tungsten carbide ball.

Designed to withstand the rigors of space travel, Fisher Pens have earned the reputation of a superior technical pen for all applications.
The NASA Astronaut Pen is the most well known of the Fisher Product line, praised for its durability, dependability and design.
The New York Museum of Modern Art has cited the Fisher Bullet Pen as an outstanding example of industrial art.

http://www.spacepen.com/Public/Home/index.cfm

18.75 at http://thewritersedge.com/story.cfm

Christmas Presents for Police Officers-Books



Here are two books that I would highly recommend getting the Police Officer that is close to your heart.

1. Police Officer's Bible: Holman Christian Standard Bible with Special Prayer and Devotional Section for those who Protect and Serve (Leather Bound - May 2004). $13.58.

http://www.amazon.com/Police-Officers-Bible-Christian-Devotional/dp/1586400967/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197600621&sr=8-1

2. The PeaceKeepers (Paperback) by Michael Dye. Bible Study for PO's $14.99

http://www.amazon.com/PeaceKeepers-Michael-Dye/dp/1597550310/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197600621&sr=8-2

Christmas Presents for PO's


Here is another suggestion to get your favorite PO for Christmas that is job related.

The KED100 Elite Duty Glove w/ KEVLAR®. Cut resistant protection for duty officers to use while frisking, searching and for weapon control. The KED100 provides cut protection throughout the entire glove.
100% KEVLAR® knit lining for excellent cut resistance
Durable stretch woven fabric upper with water resistant membrane
Stretch nylon in four chettes allow the glove to mold to your hand, eliminating the bulk between fingers, providing a greater range of motion
.8mm aniline goatskin leather.

I have been using Hatch for years with excellent results.

http://www.hatch-corp.com/detail.aspx?pid=KED100

Christmas Presents for Police Officers


I have spoken to many people that ask me what a PO would like for Christmas. Here is one suggestion. The Inova® Rechargeable LED Duty Light. We are starting to mount the chargers for these in our squads. I have had very good results with these. I was a streamlight guy up till now.


149.99 at Galls

http://www.galls.com/style.html?assort=general_catalog&style=FL494&cat=2831

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Working Midnights


Midnights

I have worked the following shifts during my career in law enforcement, all with rotating days off: Midnights (Three Years 2300hrs-0700hrs), Afternoons (Three Years 1500hrs-2300hrs), Days (0700hrs-1500hrs), Tactical (1700hrs-0100hrs), rotating (Initially every 28 days then went to every 72 days) and administrative (0900hrs-1800hrs). My work hours are also affected by up to three court dates a month and overtime details that are in addition to the work hours I have been assigned. It is obvious that Police work is a twenty-four hour, seven day a week job but the affects of the schedule really cannot be understood properly unless you have experienced it. I have found that my wife is the most affected by my work hours, followed by me and finally by the children. I was fortunate, in that I was allowed to begin my career on a rotating schedule, so that my wife was able to get small doses of each shift and we were able to tailor our schedules to fit accordingly.
I was assigned to permanent midnights when my son was one week old. This soon became a huge source of martial discord. I would arrive at home around 0745hrs and get my son up and feed him, while my wife would be getting ready for work. I would stay up with him until about 1300hrs; put him down for his nap and go to sleep myself. I then would get up around 2200hrs, eat quickly, kiss my wife and go to work. The real problems began when I was on days off. I would have a choice; either get off of work at 0700hrs and stay up till we would both go to bed at night or catch a quick couple hour’s nap and stay on the schedule. I would usually be irritable because of the interruption in my sleep cycle. I would also be exhausted because I would loose at least eight hours of sleep a week due to having to convert to a day shift schedule on my days off. The fights then intensified when I would be working and my wife was on her days off. I would be sleeping and feel the presence of someone in the room with me. I would wake up, turn my head and look over to the side of the bed and see my wife’s eyes peering over the top of the covers. After I pulled myself off the floor from the initial shock, she would say, “Oh good your up, lets grab breakfast.” I would kindly (at first) remind my wife that even though it was two in the afternoon her actions affect on me would be the same as waking her at three in the morning. If I refused to get up she would call me “lazy” and if I did get up I would have to go to work that night with less than four hours of sleep. We finally resolved this issue because I started to call her every day at four in the morning in order for her to understand how it felt. However the only real solution to this problem occurred when I had gained enough seniority to go to the afternoon shift. The problem was my wife felt that she was abandoned and without a husband. She simply wanted to spend time with our child, and me, together as a family.
The hours that an Officer works have benefits and determents. I have spoken mainly of the problems of midnights but I have a few personal experiences of how it can aid a family as well as challenge it. One of the benefits while I was on midnights was my wife was able to maintain her full time employment without my son having to have any outside daycare. I was able to be at home when servicemen needed access and chores needed to be completed. If there was a family function or holiday party I could attend without any worry about my work conflict. Finally it allowed me full time interaction with my son that if I had worked a daytime shift I would not have been able to have.

Surviving Midnights

The biggest task that faces a Christian Police Officer concerning midnight shift work hours is not allowing the lack of sleep or sleep pattern interruptions cause you to mistreat your wife and family. Proverbs 21:23 states: 23If you keep your mouth shut, you will stay out of trouble. When I worked Midnights I found that if anything came up during the day that needed me to be present it always cut into the amount I would sleep. The result of these appointments being, a four-hour nap as substitute for a normal eight hours sleep. After a couple of weeks of sleep loss I would begin to subject my wife to my angry outbursts and complete irritation. She responded to my actions by trying to maximize the time we spent together at the cost of what little sleep I already had. This continued in a steady cycle until we sat down and came up with a plan to stop our constant bickering. Our plan worked for us and I would suggest you adopt this strategy so that you may be able to survive midnights.
First you must maintain your daily habits but just at different times. For example, I personally do not eat a big breakfast, if I even eat one at all. I grab a cup of coffee, a couple of vitamins and read the newspaper. What I found myself doing on the midnight shift was getting up at 2130hrs and sitting and eating dinner with my family. This made the first meal of my day the largest. The reaction my body made to this shift in my routine was to react to the start of my day as if it was really the end of my day. I would be drowsy and uncomfortable for the first couple of hour’s everyday. It was not until I treated the beginning of my day with my normal breakfast habits that I started to feel normal. I found that just because it is ten o’clock in the evening does not mean it is not your morning. I suggest you keep track what you do throughout the day and when you enter your midnight shift you maintain your schedule except with the times changed. This will allow your body to get the cues it normally receives so that it may properly adjust as the day progresses.
Second, you must exercise. I found that I could get to sleep faster and not be as sensitive to distractions that kept me from sleeping, if I ran a couple of miles before I went home from work. What tends to happen on this shift is when the fatigue starts to set in you start dropping all your good habits, which only makes things worse. You need to stay in shape to both stay healthy and stay sane.
Third, you must develop the power nap. If you are a little clever you can make up some of your lost hours of sleep. I became an expert at sleeping in doctor offices, grocery store parking lots and babysitting duties (Load up the playpen with one thousand toys and sleep on the floor). My shift commander had a “look the other way policy” while I was on midnights. He took our stats for the year and broke it down to the average day. The deal was as long as we accomplished in four hours what we normally would have done in an eight-hour day; he would not try to find us for the second half of the shift, as long as we answered our calls. I found that this unofficial policy resulted in our shift accomplishing departmental highs in activity with lows in disciplinary problems when compared with past midnight shifts. I know that this kept me sane. I during this time I developed my ability to soundly sleep in the front seat of the squad and yet if someone called my unit number over the radio I would be able to quickly respond. I know that by having this perk on midnights my judgment and Police work were much better than if I could not have taken this nap every so often.
I was sitting in my squad car with a shift-mate who was in his squad opposite but parallel to me. We were in a remote area of our town. We both set our in-car radar to go off should a car drive close to us. The signal tone would wake us up. We both proceeded to fall asleep in our reclined driver’s seats. At about 0530hrs a tapping sound on my driver’s side window woke me. I sat up so suddenly that I banged my head on the driver’s side interior of the car and threw a right elbow into the steering wheel. My shift-mate was my mirror image. I could see out of the corner of my eye that he was holding the side of his head and swearing up a storm. I then heard a little frightened sound outside my car. I turned and looked into the wide eyes of a little old lady holding a leash in her hand. I rolled down the window while holding my freshly bruised head and asked her, “What can I do for you?” She then said, “I saw the two of you way over there and when I got close I thought that you might be dead. I did not want to call 911 before I got close enough to see if there really was anything wrong.” I thanked her for checking on us and assured her we were fine. While I am a firm believer in the power nap, it can sneak up and bite you. Always beware of little old ladies.
The fourth survival technique I utilized on Midnights was to avoid running home and going right to sleep. The reason for adopting this stratagem is that going straight home from work to your bed goes against most of your life’s experience. With normal work schedules most people get up, have breakfast and go to work. At the end of the day you would come home, have dinner, stay up a couple of hours and then go to sleep. If you break this habit then at the end of the shift your body is cued to be winding down to go to sleep, so you are at your lowest point in alertness, mental capacity and problem solving ability. You however, still have a few hours left of work to go. It is not a safe practice. The best plan is to be at your lowest point at around 0930hrs at home and relatively safe.
We had (now ex) a Police Officer that was not pleasant to work with. He decided that it was a good idea to leave his assigned area at around 0530 hrs and try to find things you missed in your area. He then would notify the dispatchers of the problem in your beat hoping to make you look bad or better yet get you in trouble with your supervisors. We all were victims at one time or another of his actions. At the same time we also had a dayshift commander (since retired) that fit the stereotype of the hard-edged, crusty “Old School” Police Officer. In other words he hated everything that had come into Policing since 1980. He especially hated technology. He railed against cellular telephones, pagers, voicemail, e-mail and the internet at every conceivable opportunity. The midnight shift would come into the station at 0755hrs to clean out and drop off the squad cars for the dayshift Officers. This commander’s policy was that the midnight shift had to walk into roll-call so that he could verify that everyone was present and no one had slunk off to go home early. He would not end his roll call till 0800hrs, so we had to come in as quietly as possible and not talk for the last five minutes of the shift. If anyone interrupted this commander’s roll-call, he would stop, yell at you in front of everyone, hold his roll-call till 0805hrs or later (Dayshift was also angry with you now) and then pull you into his office and yell at you some more. Our difficult shift-mate had just recently bought a pager. He had been told many times to not set the pager to vibrate. I cannot even begin to explain the feeling of walking through a huge dark warehouse that had been broken into; attempting to locate a burglar(s) who may or may not be inside and that stupid pager would go off. Our shift then got together and we picked a different Officer each day to quickly go into the office and page him while the rest of us were at the day-shift roll-call. The pager would sound, the commander would bring his roll-call to a stop, glare at the Officer and then after roll-call was over, the commander would have a meeting with the Officer and his pager in the office. This went on for a couple of weeks until the commander told our difficult shift mate that from now on each time he heard the pager go off, he would issue the Officer a day off without pay. This Officer was highly intelligent and all he had to do was turn off his pager at the end of the shift. However, because he would go to sleep at around 0815hrs (He lived in town) he was so tired and out of it mentally, he could not execute this simple plan. I have based much of my midnight shift survival strategy based off of doing the opposite of this Officer. He is an example of how a fundamentally sound street Officer can have things come crashing down around him because he could not handle midnights.
The midnight shift is difficult for anyone with a wife or a family. But if you take these steps it should be a bit easier. A successful midnight plan will translate into a happier family since all of you are going through midnights together. Police Departments use the midnight shift as a way to weed out employees that are not totally committed to being Police Officers. If you truly wish to be a Police Officer you will find a way to get though the required five to six years on midnights. If you cannot handle these hours, then the administration believes that they easily can do without you. But if you can be successful on this schedule then you should see it as a step toward gaining acceptance from your peers and trust from your supervisors, so it is not wasted time. I would keep in mind that everyone who came before you made it through midnights, so you can also.