Blog Archives




 

  • SHOT Show Again
    By Frank Borelli - Sunday February 10, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com 24 miles and four days later, I can brag about enjoying the company of 59,000 of my closest friends.  Typically that would constitute having attended a BIG party.  In this case it was just SHOT Show.  Setting new records (according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation - the folks who own the show), the 2008 SHOT Show boasted more than 715,000 square feet of floor space; 1,950 exhibitors and almost 59,000 attendees. As previously mentioned, SHOT Show in Vegas has more energy (for whatever reason) than when it's in Orlando.  That said, I'm very much looking forward to it being in Orlando in '09.  Before SHOT '08 had closed, more than 700,000 feet of floor space had already...

  • SHOT Show First Day
    By Frank Borelli - Sunday February 3, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com SHOT Show is... well, SHOT Show.  It's quite overwhelming if you've never seen it before (and I mean "seen it" as in BEEN THERE).  There are so many vendors that the Las Vegas Convention Center isn't big enough to hold them all. Outside in one parking lot are a couple of BIG tents that someone quite imaginatively called "The Gold Hall".  I think that's actually because it's in the Gold Parking Lot.  I have enjoyed several laughs at the idea of something so elaborately named being big tents in a parking lot. Food is the same as it always is at SHOT Show.  Yesterday for lunch we had time to get a chili cheese hotdog and some fries.  Along with the soda that was $10 each...

  • It Has Started...
    By Frank Borelli - Saturday February 2, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com Here I am, sitting in a hotel room in Las Vegas at 0630 (give or take a minute or two).  The flight out was exceptional as I had the pleasure of sitting next to an Army Colonel with Special Forces command experience.  I HOPE I held up my half of the conversation about our military community and current events with some degree of coherence.  Truth be told, after talking with this man for about two hours I felt somewhat like my life experience was limited and my education was sorely lacking.  Mark, thank you for making the first leg of my journey so pleasant. Last evening I enjoyed dinner with several great names in the gun writing industry.  Gentlemen like Ralph Mroz, Wiley...

  • Should College Be Required?
    By Frank Borelli - Monday January 28, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com I recently attended a meeting which included officers from agencies all over a given state and from varying levels of rank.  Chiefs of Police, retired Chiefs, retired Sheriffs, Captains, Lieutenants, Sergeants and the rest were all represented.  One topic of conversation in the course of the meeting was the requirement some agencies have for college education.  The agency in question requires a two-year degree (Associates) and would not wave said requirement. That same agency was apparently considering whether or not a citizenship requirement was necessary.  Yeah... you read that right: the same agency was pondering doing away with the requirement for its officers to be American...

  • Innocent Until Proven Guilty
    By Frank Borelli - Friday January 25, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com In the news for the past several months has been an on-going story about retired Sergeant Drew Peterson and his missing wife.  Let me specify:  his missing fourth wife. As I watch the news coverage it occurs to me that some of our media outlets slant every article to make it seem like Sgt. Peterson has to be guilty but isn't being properly investigated by the involved law enforcement agencies.  Most recently I saw an entire 90 second prime time news piece about Sgt. Peterson's willingness to participate in a dating game for a radio station. Okay.  Maybe that's in bad taste (I think it is).  Maybe I'm cynical because more than two decades of police work has caused me to...

  • Your Traffic Enforcement Pet Peeve
    By Frank Borelli - Wednesday January 23, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com As I sat trying to figure out what this blog should be about I got a phone call from a buddy of mine in Los Angeles.  His truck had died on his way to work and he was sitting at a traffic light with his four-way flashers on.  In spite of the hood being up and his flashers being on, people were still pulling up behind him without noticing that he was broken down.  He identified this as his pet peeve: people who are so oblivious to what's going on that they sometimes cause more problems than they avoid or solve.  This led me to think about my pet peeves and which one bugs me most. As a police officer I have seen plenty of stupid driving maneuvers: people who make right-hand turns out...

  • Technology & Our Future
    By Frank Borelli - Monday January 21, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com Two technology related items are on the Officer.com website this week.  One is the poll question about the impact of cell phone cameras / videos on how we police in today's day and age.  The other is an article about the use of electro-muscular disruption (EMD) weapons and where such weapons are placed in the Use of Force guidelines.  Both items represent changes in policing as a result of technologies developed / accepted in the past decade (in general).  That realization gave me pause. I've been a cop since the early '80s (if you count my time as an MP).  I saw the mass switchover from revolver to pistol.  I saw the change from wood baton to synthetic to side-handle to...

  • SWAT: Growing or Fading?
    By Frank Borelli - Tuesday January 15, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com The poll question on Officer.com for the past few days has been, "Does your agency have a full time dedicated Special Operations unit?"  The response kind of surprised me and gave me pause. The choices for answers were (paraphrased): Yes, we have one or more full time teams No, our SWAT guys are part time SWAT, full time something else No, our SWAT guys are part time belonging to a multi-jurisdictional team No, we have no SWAT personnel Now when I crafted and posted that question I had an expectation of what the responses would be.  That expectation was built, in large part, on my knowledge of SWAT teams in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.  Boy was I wrong. I expected that about...

  • Values On The Street
    By Frank Borelli - Monday January 14, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com In the final blog from our previous Editor he stated several of his values with regard to "the street".  I agree with much of what he said, but - from my perspective - some of it is difficult in reality to deal with.  Specifically, "Accepting a free cup of coffee or a half price Whopper is not the sure road to ruin, immediately followed by dealing heroin out of your patrol car. But it cheapens you and your profession. Gratuities are small incentives you provide to people in servant-type work..." I AGREE.  However, I think that there are sometimes circumstances that make it difficult for the patrol officer NOT to take certain types of gratuities such as discounts or gifts.  For...

  • Politics and Religion and...
    By Frank Borelli - Monday January 7, 2008
    Frank Borelli Editor-in-Chief Officer.com "Never discuss politics or religion in polite company." I remember being taught that as a child. Of course, I also remember the statement, "Children should be seen and not heard." Things change. In today's world - most especailly in the past few weeks - if you've watched television you can't help but be inundated with more coverage than you might even want about the current presidential race.  If you've kept up with coverage on the war(s) in the middle east, you might see a connection there between religion and politics...just maybe. Such topics of discussion may not have any place in "polite conversation", but they most assuredly get discussed around the local convenience store...