National Police Week is upon us and recognizes those law enforcement officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection of others. It’s held in Washington D.C.each year, and includes a moving ceremony and vigil at the Police Officer’s Memorial. I have not been to the ceremony but have visited the memorial each time I have been in our capital to find the names of the many officers I knew whose funerals I have attended. Like visiting the Vietnam Memorial I have been moved to silence to see the names of so many officers who lost their lives throughout the years.

Here’s a question for you. What is Homeland Security? Is it what we used to call national security? Is it public safety? Is it a massive sinkhole where taxpayer money gets dumped to be lavished on former government employees through no-bid, cost-plus contracts? If you have no idea what “homeland security” is, or what DHS does you’re not alone. No one knows. Not even the folks at DHS.

Dog the bounty hunter and Mrs. Dog recently sat down for a televised interview to discuss Dog’s new hustle where he “trains” other bail bondsmen and, according to Dog, police officers as well, in the fine art of…well…whatever it is that Dog does.

A team of law enforcement officers arrested Jordan Dennis, in Truth or Consequences, NM recently according to the US Marshal’s Service. The team was made up of Deputy United States Marshals, Carlsbad Police Officers, Drug Enforcement Administration Agents, Las Cruces Police Officers, Truth Or Consequences Police Officers, and Sierra County Investigators.

Here’s how disaster capitalism works. First you say something like “government is not a solution. It can only be a problem.” You repeat that for several decades until even government employees buy into the idea. Then you cut funding for government functions like local law enforcement. When the cuts create entirely predictable problems, you then use those problems as evidence that “the system is broken.” Enter “private sector solutions.” According to a recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, budget cuts in Oakland have led to a shortage of cops on the beat.

If you are the Chief, a patrolman, detective or a school resource officer, there is a good chance you have found yourself in conversations with friends, colleagues, or citizens about school violence in the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. Whether these conversations take place in the squad room, a City Council meeting, or over dinner, it becomes obvious that there is no clear answer to the prevention of school violence. The depravity of the Sandy Hook shooting has shed a very public spot light on the dark reality of how vulnerable our youngest citizens can be at school.

Here in Wisconsin and particularly my city, Milwaukee, all the members of the Milwaukee Police Association are working hard to overturn the residency requirement for police officers. The city has refused to bargain over the issue so we have been forced to turn to the legislative process to accomplish our goals. During the last legislative session we nearly garnered the required support we needed to overturn the law that’s been on the books since the 1930’s and  forces all Milwaukee police officers to live within the city limits.

A Florida sheriff's literally deputy took matters into her own hands recently when she corralled a seven-foot alligator that was spotted trying to break through the fence of a local middle school. Jessica McGregor, a 29-year-old Lake County Sheriff's Deputy and mother of two, responded to the frantic call about a gator near school kids.

As far back as we can remember there has been a market for fake ID’s.  Mostly they’ve been used by underage kids to get served alcohol in bars and restaurants, along with adults who were attempting to change their identity.  
In the “old days” those wanting to get a fake ID would stand in front of a poster board, or attempt to go to the DMV and fraudulently acquire one. Or they would just ask a friend for theirs.  

“I can tell people throughout this land, because of the fiscal state of affairs we have, there will be less police officers, not more, over the next decade.” - NC Senator Lindsey Graham. Now why would that be? Could the fact that Americans’ tax dollars are spent everywhere and anywhere but here at home have anything to do with it?