Officer.com Police Blogs & Podcasts

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

A quick look at my photo shows that I haven’t had to worry about my hair cut for quite some time. In fact, after I left uniformed police work in early 2000 I actually grew it out. That only lasted a few months as it drove me nuts and I was quite happy to return to my crew cut. Either way, I’ve never been a person who would put cornrows in my hair - on or off duty. We see news out of Philadelphia where a white police officer has been taken off of patrol duty because he did. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

In a recent article shared on Officer.com we read about Mayor Sallie Peake of Wellford, South Carolina, who - in her infinite wisdom - has issued an order that the Wellford Police can no longer pursue suspects on foot. I don’t know quite what to say. Mayor Peake justified this order because of the insurance costs incurred when officers get injured and the workers compensation amounts the city is paying out. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I became a cop long enough ago that our issued gear was pretty simple: a revolver, a holster, a radio (if you had a portable one), a holder for it, a baton with a ring on your belt to carry it, and two speed-loaders in a pouch. Oh yeah, can’t forget those chain-link handcuffs in their pouch as well. Everything used to carry the gear was leather with brass snaps and you got inspected before each shift to make sure the leather was shined and the brass was polished. Your gun may or may not have been loaded or clean, but that was seldom inspected. Appearance mattered. You had to LOOK professional - and there’s nothing wrong with that. Well known writer / trainer Massad Ayoob once espoused the belief that the more professional and squared away you looked the less likely a bad guy would be to mess with you. Why? Because if you LOOKED that squared away you probably weren’t going to be a push-over in a fight; you were probably paying attention, aware of your surroundings and ready to put a bad guy down as hard as was necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

On this coming Friday, September 11th, 2009, the United States of America will be remembering the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11th, 2001. We will be remembering the 2,998 lives lost; the horror and devastation we all watched on television; the memorials people from around the world were kind and empathetic enough to place outside our embassies. We’ll should also remember a few other things that may cause us a bit of righteous anger: Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Labor Day Weekend is upon us. The “last long weekend of the summer”. Typically, community pools stop being open on weekdays; most annual family vacations have been completed; any school systems not already in session start on Tuesday. As a result, many people take advantage of the opportunity to travel for one last long summer weekend OR they stay home and have bar-b-ques, etc. Either way, the chances increase for police interaction and any time that happens, our risk for negative interaction increases. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

In the past I’ve written blogs or articles about a few things that tend to be a bit controversial. I know… I know… Some of you are thinking, “Frank? Controversial? Nah…” Now that we’ve all had a good laugh, I know we all realize that sometimes I like to stir a big bucket with a huge paddle. If it makes people think and inspires (intelligent) conversation then I’ve succeeded in my goal. What occurred to be just this morning is that I almost always assume that my blogs are read by people who have and exercise common sense. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

I have previously written blogs about the various value to be found in police recruits that have a college education versus military experience. This morning, in sorting through news stories and checking out forum discussions on Officer.com, I discovered two related topics and felt the need to discuss them a tad. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

A few years back Officer.com ran a poll question on what the readers’ favorite cop television show was. Times change. Since then there are new ones and the older ones are hard (at best) to find. Still, it seemed appropriate to run that poll again (thanks, Tim!). I have to wonder about the results. Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

On July 28th, while working as a bank teller, Jim Nicholson found himself being robbed. Of course, the bad guy wasn’t robbing Jim but was robbing the bank Jim worked for. Worked… as in past tense. Why? Because Jim actually foiled the robbery and as a reward for protecting its interests the bank fired him. Yes, that’s right. Jim did something most would consider heroic and the bank fired him for violating policy. When will we (society) learn? Read the rest of this entry »

Frank Borelli
Editor-in-Chief
Officer.com

Every now and then something happens that really sticks in my craw. Last week, several things happened like that. As the news media reported on all of the events Surrounding the arrest of Professor Gates in Cambridge, President Obama got involved, and I found a plethora of blogs online criticizing Sgt. Crowley for being prejudiced or racial, all too often with the added comment of like every other cop. Fate is fickle but sometimes quite timely. As things work out, I received an email just this morning regarding an event that occurred just yesterday (July 26th, 2009) reflecting on an experience he had. Read the rest of this entry »