Letter From the Editor – June 2021

Where to begin. May is always a rough month for we in the law enforcement profession. Police Week, National Peace Officers Memorial Day and all of the events that surround both remind us just how dangerous our job can be. On the other hand, if anything can unite The Thin Blue Line and remind us that we are all one family, National Police Week can do it. And now we’re in June, looking forward to the summer.

Across our nation, summer is looking much better than it did in 2020. COVID is surrendering (slowly but surely) to vaccinations, natural immunity and mitigating efforts. Families are getting back out and about; businesses are opening up to full capacity and...the accompanying level of stupid that goes along with such is blossoming. For our profession, almost everything is a mixed blessing, right?

First, the basics: Stay cool and stay hydrated. As we move into the hotter summer months, we can’t afford to lose any officers to heat injuries. Inevitably, we’ll find ourselves out, hot and sweating under conditions we can’t control, but pay attention. Outside forces are presenting us with enough challenges; we don’t need to create any extra ones.

Second, let’s take a look at what society is demanding and push back—via communications and cooperation—as best we can. While so many scream for “defund, disarm and reform,” the police, they have no concept of what such would result in. Let’s take control of the reform message. Let’s share with them just how often we DO reform; we DO evolve; we DO update our policies, tactics, equipment and more. Let’s show society—each of us in our own community—that we’re not the power-hungry prejudicial monsters the mainstream media portrays us as. Tens of thousands of us demonstrate, every day, what kind of compassionate heroes we are. Let’s do a better job of sharing that message in any way we can.

And last but not least… in this issue of OFFICER Magazine, as we do in every issue, we have articles covering topics like Tactics, Command, Vehicles and more. Contributing Editor Lindsey Bertomen has a very informative article about reducing cognitive load under stress. Associate Editor Hilary Rodela writes about outdoor crime scenes and some of the unique challenges they can present. Chief William Harvey (ret) discusses the value of mentoring and how important it is that we keep it in mind for the next generation of officers. Officer Brendan Rodela wrote a very interesting piece about an FBI agent going undercover to investigate organized crime. As it is summer, our Editor, Paul Peluso, wrote a great article about bicycles used for patrol and how versatile they can be. There are a few other pieces but I want to mention one more: our Honoring the Fallen. In every issue of OFFICER Magazine we will Honor Our Fallen. We should never forget and all too often they are.

So, to summarize: don’t get a heat injury; take control of the reform message;

great reading ahead!

Stay safe.