The Hiring Process: My Experience with LASD
As a teenager, I was no fan of the cops. That was nothing unusual for a hot-rodder who liked to street race and cruise and maybe partake in adult libations at times.
Leaving a Legacy
In the morning, the day before Father’s Day, I stood beneath a crystal blue Idaho sky to say goodbye to a family friend. His name was Bill, and he had lived a full life of eighty-eight years. There were about fifty family and friends assembled on a well-tended lawn peppered with granite markers of various…
Congressional Baseball Game Shooting
On June 13, 2017, Alexandria, Virginia police officer Nicole Battaglia’s shift had begun as routinely as all her previous shifts with one significant exception: she had completed her first year on the streets and was no longer a probationer. There was nothing spectacular or even memorable about her day. She had slept, she worked out…
Angie Dodge Murder: Solved
I am writing this having just finished watching the press conference by the Idaho Falls Police Department announcing the arrest of Brian Leigh Dripps for the 1996 murder of Angie Dodge. Congratulations to them; it’s about time this case was solved. That may sound mean-spirited, but it’s not; it’s outrage.
Crazy Cindy
Cindy has a great personality. Okay, that’s not the truth. Actually, she has a really, REALLY nasty disposition. But, as I reflect on Mother’s Day weekend, I feel compelled to say she is a good mama. And by good mama, what I mean is she will kill any human who comes between her and her…
Patrol Training at Firestone Station
Mike Griffin was my first patrol training officer at Firestone Station. In the first three months, he and I would handle half a dozen murders and assist on many others. The first happened in broad daylight on a populated sidewalk of Florence Avenue in South Los Angeles. The call came out as a 245 (assault…
Life and Death in L.A.: Then and Now
The late eighties and early nineties saw the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. South Los Angeles, the epicenter of it all, experienced a colossal rise in violent crime. Gang members controlled the street level sales, and they were willing to kill for their piece of the pie.
In Harm’s Way
The night before I wrote this blog, my editor sent a text telling me she was watching the movie Colors. When I told her it was filmed (in large part) where I had worked patrol, during the time I was there, she said she couldn’t imagine what it was like to work there. Then she…
Profiling: Not Just a Dirty Word
Profiling is an effective tool for detecting and preventing crime and apprehending criminals. Courts and the officers thereof have succumbed to (if not created and propagated) this notion that those who are entrusted—rather burdened—to protect society from the predators among us, are expected to act as if they have neither a brain nor a day’s experience.
Midland Officer Killed by Homeowner
Texans Mourn the Loss of an Officer From CBS7 News: Midland Mayor Jerry Morales has identified the officer as 5-year veteran Nathan Hayden Heidelberg. An internal email obtained by multiple media sources reports that Heidelberg, his probationary police officer, plus two additional officers responded to a burglar alarm at a Midland home on Tuesday morning.