Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop

That's a Wrap

That's a Wrap. In 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic I decided to start this podcast. I had just retired and started full time teaching and consulting when the world came to a grinding halt. The podcast was a way to fill that void. To scratch my teaching itch and to share what I had learned in 30 years of working as a cop.    I couldn’t be more happy with the results.    Over the last four years I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with old friends, making new ones, and sharing inf...

Can it get worse?

In 2022 Rafael Mangual a senior fellow and head of research for policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research published his book Criminal (In)Justice. If your profession revolves around the criminal justice system then this is a must-read book. Using extensive studies and documentation Mangual takes the fight to the decarceration and depolicing narrative. He quickly and succinctly destroys the concept of defunding the police. Criminal (In)Justice points out that ...

We Saw It Coming with Rick Snyder

Rick Snyder started in law enforcement over 27 years ago and continues to serve on a major metropolitan police department. Rick is the president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 86 and also serves as the National FOP Chaplain. Rick has been vocal about the issues involving police reform for many years and I was pleased to have an opportunity to talk to Rick about the state of policing and the war on cops. Rick had so much more to say, but do to technical difficulties and schedule conflic...

Halloween Special: Creepy Conversation

This is our fourth annual Halloween Special and it's a doozy. Ever had one of those creepy encounters that just set the hair on the back of your neck straight up. Usually we just move on and forget about them, but sometimes they can really spook you. In this episode we hear the real true story of a creepy conversation that took a dark turn quickly. Dim the lights and settle in for another true Halloween story.

More Dispatch with Jeff Schemmer

Jeff Schemmer is a longtime friend and colleague of mine. He is also an expert on the 911 system. Jeff began working in the 911 community thirty-five years ago as a dispatcher with the Bloomington Indiana Police Department. After the 1998 consolidation of dispatch services with BPD and Monroe County Sheriff's Office, he continued to serve as a dispatcher, training coordinator and Communications Manager until 2019, when he accepted the position of Executive Director with Hamilton County Publi...

Mourning Bands

There isn’t an easy answer to the origin of the black mourning band. The use of black clothing to show that the wearer is in mourning for the loss of a loved one, can be traced all the way back to ancient Rome, where the traditional white toga would be replaced with a black toga pulla. Over the centuries and in various cultures white and black have battled it out for dominance as the prevailing color for mourning however in the 14th century, Christian Churches had made the wearing of black a...

Rural Policing with Kathleen Dias

Kathleen Dias isn’t a cop, but her husband was and the experiences he faced everyday as a rural police officer made her want to write about the issues faced by rural officers in America. She began studying, writing, and researching topics important to rural officers and speaking out against the Mayberry perceptions that most people have of the job. Not only does Kathleen write a column for police one dot com but she has also starting tracking rural officers who are assaulted and killed in th...

Stop Hiring and Start Retaining

During my 3 years as the Administrative Captain, I hired 43 police officers. 43 in three years. That number becomes amazing when you realize that my department was only allowed 100 cops at maximum staffing. 43% turnover in 3 years. Sadly, only in policing can you get away with that. If I were to address the board of directors for a company and told them that employee turnover was 43%, I probably wouldn’t have my job for very long. But in policing that’s not uncommon. If you add in correctio...

Everyday Stories with Glenn Topping

I will never forget some advice given to me by one of my FTOs. “Write it down. Write something down everyday and at then end of your career you’ll have a best-selling novel. You’ll never have to work again.”  Unfortunately, my rookie self wasn’t smart enough to take him up on his advice. I never wrote it down and because of that so many stories have slipped through the cracks. Glenn Topping is someone who did write those things down and because of that he has gone on to write six novels. ...

On Warriors and Guardians

In this episode we will look at the terms typically used to define the police, warriors and guardians. Where did these terms come from and why have they become so divisive within our profession. Warrior, Guardians, and Cops.

Internal Affairs

Officer involved shootings are some of the most difficult and important internal investigations you will ever be a part of. Making sure they are done properly at all levels is critically important to the officers involved, the agency, and the community. To talk about this topic as well as other issues involving internal affairs, I had the pleasure of speaking with Marlon Marrache. Marlon retired from the Los Angeles Police Department after 25 years of service. During his 15 years as a Serg...

Demotivation

Demotivation is simply a lack of interest and motivation at your work. It doesn’t seem like a big deal; I mean everyone gets a little demotivated at work. You slack off a little, spend some extra time at the water cooler or on a smoke break, and once the weekend kicks in you get a little rest and relaxation before you’re better next week. That’s not what’s going on in policing. Demotivation is more than just a little frustration at the workplace. In policing it’s one of the things destroyin...

Training Tactics with Scott Savage

Today’s policing is more dangerous than ever. Staying sharp and following proper professional and tactical procedures is the key to staying alive and I couldn’t think of a better guest to talk to about this topic than Scott Savage. Scott Savage began his career in public safety at age 19, first as an E.M.T and then as a licensed paramedic working in a busy emergency medical system. In 1999, he became a police officer with the Palo Alto Police Department in California where he worked assignm...

The War on Cops

There are a lot of people, including those in our profession that don’t like to hear the phrase “War on Cops”. They feel it will promote the Us vs Them mentality and broaden the divide between the working police officer and the public they serve. In 2014 Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown after Brown violently attacked him. That’s right, contrary to what you have heard from the media, social justice pundits and professional athletes the investigation, eviden...

Welcome to the Academy

Police Academy is more than just a funny movie starring Steve Guttenberg from 1984. It is the basis for law enforcement across the United States and most of the world. Police academies are training schools for recruit officers that provide the basic instruction on how to do job of a police officer. They include but are not limited to classes in firearms, physical control tactics, emergency driving, criminal law, arrest procedures, traffic stop procedures, medical skills, and emergency respo...

True Crime

True Crime is a genre as old as Cain and Able. OK, maybe not that old, but it’s pretty close. The True Crime genre is a non-fiction book, magazine, pulp, podcast, movie, or TV series that examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. Murder is the crime most focused on and Serial Killers make up 40% of the True Crime genre. Today, True Crime is not only the most in demand type of documentary, but it also almost doubles the ...

Interviews with Stan Walters

A few months into my first year on the department I attended my first in-service training class with the agency. Interview and Interrogation taught by a guy named Stan Walters. I learned a lot from Stan. Stan Walters has spent more than 40 years studying and researching the science of interview and interrogation. He is the author of Principles of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation, 2d, ed. and The Truth About Lying: How to Spot a Lie and Protect Yourself From Deception which has been publi...

Halloween Special: Lights over the Lake

In this Halloween Special we hear a true story that's out of this world.

Untitled Episode

Dispatch with Adam Timm

Dispatch is one of the most important parts of the emergency management system. They are the first ones to talk to the public, they answer questions, and send help where needed. It’s also the one we tend to forget about. To help us understand more about Dispatch and what they do I talked with Adam Timm. Adam Timm worked as a dispatcher for LAPD for 10 years before starting his own training company “The Healthy Dispatcher” He has gone on to provide international instruction for 911 operator...

The National Police Force

I have worked with most of the federal agencies at one time or another and for the most part the individual agents were great. Dedicated professionals working hard to solve the cases. I always appreciated the resources they could bring to a case. But the moment I had to deal with one of the “Guys in Charge” things tended to take a turn for the worst. The higher up the administrative ladder you went the ideas and goals of what you were all trying to accomplish would change very quickly. The...

Wrist Lock with Jason Harney

In this episode of Blue Canary we talk to Jason Harney, retired LVMPD Sergeant and documentary film maker about his upcoming documentary "Wrist Lock: The Martial Arts Influence on Police Use of Force." A documentary film featuring interviews with high level martial artists from around the country, who have also served their communities as Law Enforcement Officers, as well as experts in police training, wellness, & fitness. http://lightningdigitalentertainment.com/wrist-lock.html Wrist Lock...

The Five Best Cop Movies

I thought we would have a little bit of fun this episode and break down the five best cop movies for you night owls. Back in the day you had to buy these on VHS, yes, I am that old, or DVD. But, today with streaming services you can probably find this without too much difficulty. Before we get into the list here are a few caveats. First these are based on my personal opinion, just because I am right doesn’t mean some of you out there can’t be wrong. I am also not a professional reviewer so ...

The DEA with Michael Brown

Michael Brown retired as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency after 32 years of service. His experience in the DEA not only involved interdiction and enforcement within the United States, but he spent a significant amount of time working in foreign countries attempting to stem the tide of drugs to the US. He is currently the Counter-Narcotics Interdiction Business Development Manager for Rigaku Analytical Devices.  We talked about a variety of issues around the war on drugs and ...

Uvalde

On May 24th, 2022, a gunman entered the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County Texas and murdered 19 children and 2 adult teachers. The police stood by for over an hour while the active killer was on the loose in the school and did nothing. That’s hard for me to believe. But it’s true, and as we learn more about the police response or lack thereof, I personally become more disgusted. That is not what police believe in. That is not what we do and that is not who we are. Unfortunately, we...

Why be an FTO?

What is an FTO? Well, you should already know by now because you should have gone through an FTO program when you hired on the job. You mean you didn’t have an FTO program? You mean they just handed you the keys to the car, a map, and said call me if you have any problems? Unfortunately, this is all too familiar. Now what do we mean by Field Training Officer Program? It is simply an on-the-job training program that assists with the on-boarding and training of brand-new officers to the pol...

Training with Jim Glennon

Training, you are going to hear a lot about training in this season’s episodes. It’s the cornerstone of good police work and unfortunately, we don’t get it when we need it. There are lots of reasons why and we are going to explore those and other training topics on this episode with our interview of Lt. Jim Glennon. Jim started with the Lombard Illinois Police Department in 1980 and held many positions at the department. In 1998 he became the first Commander of the Dupage County Major Crime...

Reform Must Start with Training!

Training. We have talked about it several times on this show. And we are going to talk more about it today. Police reform is a hot button topic today with legislatures all over the US passing law enforcement bills and police reform bills in an effort to improve the professionalism of policing. But they are missing the mark. The bills are focusing on specific topics like choke holds, which have been outlawed for decades, and de-escalation, which people struggle to define. Instead of specif...

Season Three Trailer

Season Three is almost here.  The Blue Canary Podcast team has been hard at work creating new episodes for all of our subscribers and casual listeners. In just two short weeks we will start dropping brand new episodes. And we have some great interviews for you. Here are a few teasers for what’s coming on this season of Blue Canary. If you are finding us for the first time, check out our episodes from Season 1 and Season 2 and make sure you like, share and subscribe.

Getting Coffee with Matt Molter

In this final episode of season two, I sit down and have some coffee with Matt Molter the owner of Agency360 and sponsor of Blue Canary to talk about the state of law enforcement and what the future might bring. https://www.agency360.com/

In the Line of Duty

In this episode of Blue Canary we will discuss the FBI LEOKA project and the issues regarding officers killed in the line of duty.

The Old Victorian a Halloween Special

What's the spookiest thing you've ever had to deal with? This is one of those questions that can catch you off guard. Sometimes it will take you a few minutes to come up with an answer, but if you've been in this job for more than a minute you have had something weird, creepy, scary or spooky happen to you. It makes for a perfect true Halloween story.  This years true creepy story comes to us from a Sheriff's Deputy who had a real life encounter with something very strange a spooky. Thanks ...

Side Jobs with Robert Garland

Throughout most of the United States police salaries are pretty low. That means cops have to figure out ways to make ends meet through side jobs. Some cops are landscapers on the side, some are locksmiths, some work as much overtime as they can get. Robert Garland really did something special when he founded "Fund the First" are crowdsourcing platform for first responders and veterans.  https://fundthefirst.com/ In this episode of Blue Canary we talk to Robert Garland about how he got into...

All the Small Things

All the small things we tend to take for granted. People look at the uniforms police wear and just assume that the department purchased everything for them. Uniform shirts and pants, gun belt, handcuffs, gun, magazines, ammunition, radio, badge, the list goes on and on. All those small things add up. In this episode of Blue Canary we are going to look at all of the little things that add up to big things and how many officers around the country have to buy their own equipment out of pocket.

No Atheists in Foxholes with Jim Bontrager

On this episode of Blue Canary we speak to Jim Bontrager, Chaplain and President-Elect of the International Conference of Police Chaplains about the role of police chaplains and their affect on officers and agencies. Jim Bontrager is the Senior Chaplain with the Elkhart, IN Police Department and founder of Warrior on the Wall Ministries.  Jim speaks at Law Enforcement conferences, retreats and conducts LE/ Chaplain training around the country.  He holds his Master Chaplain credentials with...

The Fearless Generation

“What the hell do I do with these Millennials?” That has to be one of the most common questions I get in my classes. Trainers and supervisors across the country are struggling to relate and deal with the millennial police officer. Well, I’ve got bad news for you. The millennials have been here for awhile and they’re not going away. Generational Studies have been one of the go-to area of social science for a while now. With terms like the Lost Generation, The Greatest Generation, Baby Boome...

The Robin Hood Effect

George Floyd should not have died in police custody. The actions taken by Derek Chauvin were reprehensible and universally condemned by law enforcement. George Floyd was a victim of police misconduct. But he was not a hero.  In this episode we will discuss the Robin Hood Effect, where criminals are labeled heroes. From the 1300's to today society has a penchant for proclaiming the good guy bad, and the bad guy good. It's not new, or even unusual, but we need to understand it and the severe ...

Behind the Walls with Jeff Carter

In this episode of Blue Canary we speak to jail expert Jeff Carter about the challenges of housing mentally ill prisoners. Jeff retired December 2018 as the Deputy Director of the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Over his 20-year career, he has worked all levels of custody inside a 1,300-bed correctional facility located in the horse racing capitol of the world. Jeff was an instructor for 5 years inside the academy, where he trained over 700 recruits, molding them int...

Comedy in Law Enforcement with Vinnie Montez

"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine." That quote by Lord Byron explains why cops love comedy. We love to laugh, and to play pranks, sometimes at the most inappropriate times. Mostly because it helps us heal. Vinnie Montez comes on this episode of Blue Canary to discuss his journey into comedy and why we should all take a few minutes everyday and laugh. You can find information about Vinnie and where he will be performing at his website, https://www.vinniemontez.com/ also follow...

The Myth of the Highly Trained Police Officer

Police officers are frequently described as "Highly Trained", but that couldn't be further from the truth. Police are often expected to handle extremely confusing, difficult, and dangerous situations with little or no training. The true miracle is that the police manage to get it right a vast majority of the time. In this episode of Blue Canary we are going to take a look at police training. How much they get, and why even that is not enough. We will also discuss the problems agencies have ...

Interview with an Applicant

In the season two premier of Blue Canary, Steve Kellams interviews a police applicant and gets an idea of what the next generation of police officer candidates are looking for in  a career. They talk about everything from reasons to becoming a police officer to the current defund the police movements and how these things affect the applicants thought process. Are you interested in what the next generation is looking for from a department? Curious if any of your potential police hires have...

Season 2 Trailer

Season 2 is almost here. Subscribe to Blue Canary and don't miss an episode.

Welcome to the Party, Pal: Technology, Predictions, and Reflections with Matt Molter

It’s the 21st century, so why is technology in law enforcement practically stuck in the Dark Ages? Even if departments are starting to adopt new technologies, the mindset behind it is often just a digitized version of an analog process, with no automation or innovation to make the job more efficient. If cops are going to do their jobs and serve their communities better, they need tech solutions designed for that purpose. In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by former cop and current pro...

I Sleep Alone So You Can Sleep Safe

As officers, we love our families, and they’re a big part of why we do the job. Yet, we often forget how our profession impacts the lives of our family members. We go to great lengths to help cops cope with the long hours and high-stress environment, but how do the spouses manage? In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by three cop wives who have agreed to discuss their experiences anonymously. They vulnerably share how the job’s stresses affect them and their children. This Episode Brou...

Understanding and Highlighting CopLine with Stephanie Samuels

In this bonus episode, Steve Kellams is joined by Stephanie Samuels to discuss CopLine, a national hotline for police officers. CopLine is a completely confidential resource staffed with vetted and trained retired police officers. If you’re a law enforcement officer looking for someone to talk to about the pressures of the job, visit https://www.copline.org/ or call 1-800-COPLINE. Resources Discussed:  CopLine: https://www.copline.org/ This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By: Agency360:...

The Hardest Thing I've Ever Had to Do

We spend a lot of time training officers on how to handle “things”–the concrete skills needed to do the job every day: physical tactics, firearms use, traffic stops, and domestic violence response.  What we don’t do well is prepare them for the mental and emotional impact a career in law enforcement brings.  In this episode, Steve Kellams is joined by Stephanie Samuels, a psychotherapist and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder expert focused on issues in law enforcement, and Shaun Tieman, a for...

The Dirtiest Word in Policing

The decentralized and local-based policing across the United States has its advantages. Yet, it means each community has a different type of police force with varying focuses.  Why the differences across departments?  Politics. And politics is the dirtiest word in policing. In this episode, Steve Kellams breaks down why, and how front-line patrol officers receive backlash for the policies they are ordered to enforce. Resources Discussed:  https://video.foxnews.com/v/6151671000001#sp=sho...

Even Fish Recognize Bad Leaders with Lou Reiter

Police reform is all over the news, yet, no one discusses what happens once the offending officers are identified. This episode will give you an inside look into the internal affairs investigation process with guest Lou Reiter. Lou was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department from 1961 to 1981, when he retired as Deputy Chief of Police. During his twenty-year career, he served as a uniformed officer, an instructor, and an Internal Affairs Officer. He’s since become a sought-after exper...

BONUS: Back from the Grave: A Halloween Story

It was a cool autumn night when the call went out. A woman called 911 claiming her ex-husband was trying to kill her. In this bonus episode, find out what happened when Steve and his partner arrived on the scene. This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:  Agency360: https://agency360.com

BONUS: Back from the Grave: A Halloween Story

It was a cool autumn night when the call went out. A woman called 911 claiming her ex-husband was trying to kill her. In this bonus episode, find out what happened when Steve and his partner arrived on the scene. This Episode Brought to Law Enforcers By:  Agency360: https://agency360.com