DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

The BLUES 1

VOL. 38 NO. 12 

DECEMBER 2022 

FEATURES 

56 COVER STORY 

IACP OFFICER OF THE YEAR, 

OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY 

COVER: 

IACP selected Dayton Ohio Police 

Officer Thadeu Holloway for its 

Officer of the Year for 2022. Read 

all about this brave officer starting 

on Page 56. 

130 

68 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 

DEPARTMENTS 

6 PUBLISHER’S THOUGHTS 

8 EDITOR’S THOUGHTS 

12 GUEST COMMENTARY - BILL KING 

14 NEWS AROUND THE US 

46 HEALTH & AWARENESS 

52 COP CAR NEWS 

84 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 

86 REMEMBERING OUR FALLEN HEROES 

92 WAR STORIES 

98 AFTERMATH 

102 OPEN ROAD 

108 CLASSIFIEDS 

110 HEALING OUR HEROES 

112 DARYL’S DELIBERATIONS 

114 LIGHT BULB AWARD 

116 RUNNING 4 HEROES 

118 BLUE MENTAL HEALTH WITH DR. TINA JAECKLE 

120 OFF DUTY WITH RUSTY BARRON 

124 ADS BACK IN THE DAY 

124 PARTING SHOTS 

130 BUYERS GUIDE 

150 NOW HIRING - L.E.O. POSITIONS OPEN IN TEXAS 

202 BACK PAGE 

92 98 

2 The BLUES The BLUES 3

FOUNDED IN 1984 

OUR TEAM 

MICHAEL BARRON 

founder & publisher 

MICHAEL BARRON 

editor-n-chief 

REX EVANS 

contributing editor 

JESSICA JONES 

creative editor 

RUSTY BARRON 

outdoor editor 

DR. TINA JAECKLE 


DARYL LOTT 


SAM HORWITZ & JOHN SALERNO 

contributing editors 

DOUGLAS GRIFFITH 

HPOU contributing editor 

BILL KING 


OUR CONTRIBUTORS 

BLUES STAFF WRITERS 

light bulb 

LT. BOB EVANS, RET. 

warstory 

MICHAEL WILLIAMS 

HOLLY MATKIN 

SANDY MALONE 

BRADY WAKAYAMA 

MYLES MILLER 

HUNTER LEE 

ASHLEY SILVER 

MATT COHEN 

DEVOUN CETOUTE 

PATRICK DRONEY 

ELLEN GERST 

MARIE RIDGEWAY 

DAVID KESSLER 

contributing writers 

The BLUES is published monthly by Kress-Barr, LLC, PO Box 2733, League City Texas 77574. The opinions 

expressed in some articles, op-eds, and editorials are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion 

of The BLUES or its parent company. Rebuttals or submission of news articles and editorials may be 

submitted to: The BLUES @ bluespdmag@gmail.com. The entire contents of The BLUES IS copyrighted© 

and may not be reprinted without the express permission of the publisher. 


FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK 

It’s Been One Hell of a Ride 

In December of 2020, we 

launched an all-new BLUES. At a 

time when magazines were going 

away, we did something very few 

publishers were doing; we created 

a true magazine and then 

digitized it. Isn’t that just like all 

other on-line magazines? 

Well yes and know. Yes it’s 

kinda the same. But the look and 

feel of The BLUES is unique to the 

YUMPU format and The BLUES is 

the only police magazine on the 

YUMPU hosting site. 

In the past three years, we’ve 

published 36 issues. That’s 4,508 

pages of content that’s been read 

6,660,000 times. In 2020, our average 

page count was 75 pages. 

In 2021 it grew to 139 pages. In 

2022, we now average over 200 

pages per issue. 

Not only has our page size 

increased, so has our readership. 

In 2020 we started with 

less than 10,000 subscribers and 

the average readership per issue 

was 95,000. In 2021, the numbers 

grew to 33,000 subscribers and 

130,000 readers per issue. 

Now as we close out 2022, we 

email copies to over 82,000 first 

responders, including every police 

chief, sheriff, and constable 

in the US. And the average readership 

per month has grown to over 

350,000. 

All of this adds up to The BLUES 

is now the Largest Digital Police 

Magazine in North America. We 

could not have accomplished any 

of this without you, our readers, 

and our fantastic staff. I can’t 

thank either one enough for all 

your support. 

Next year brings another milestone 

for The BLUES. December 

2023 will mark 39 years since 

Nat Gutierrez and I decided to 

create 12-page tabloid for our 

department. Who knew it would 

become the largest digital police 

magazine in America. I wish Nat 

was still with us to celebrate this 

momentous occasion, but I sure 

he’s looking down on us saying, 

“ahh, I was just an intern at best.” 

Red Wave that Wasn’t 

By now, it’s pretty clear that what 

was supposed to be a Red Wave, 

was more like a crimson tide at 

best. 

While Republicans did take the 

house and fired Nancy Pelosi, the 

rest of the country was still pretty 

much split 50/50. 

And why is that? Why is this 

country is still just as divided as it 

was two years ago. The Dems hate 

Republican values so much they 

would rather elect a man in Pennsylvania 

that can barely put two 

sentences together. But then again 

look at their leader. Biden is closer 

than ever to full blown dementia. 

And apparently crime doesn’t 

concern them at all. With the highest 

crime rate in the country, New 

Yorkers elected Kathy Hochul for a 

full-term as governor even though 

she said, “why is crime such a big 

deal to you people.” Maybe because 

people are dying? Duh! 

And here in Harris County, where 

the incumbent Country Judge Lina 

SGT. MICHAEL BARRON RET 

Hidalgo stated she may be indicted 

at some point, was re-elected to 

another 4 years in office. 

None of this makes any sense to 

me whatsoever. I can understand 

backing your party and staying true 

to your beliefs. But when people 

are literally dying in the streets, 

when do you say enough is enough. 

What about the economy? Most 

Democrats are lower to middle 

income folks with families to feed. 

How can they be happy with the 

high prices of gas or the insane 

price of food? 

Democrats do not care about 

crime or the economy. They do 

not care about the border. They 

do not care about Fentanyl and 

the fact it’s killing our people. 

They don’t care that our President 

is killing this country. As 

long as Biden promotes their climate 

agenda and hands out free 

money, they are willing to look 

the other way. 


FROM THE GUEST EDITOR’S DESK 

Notifying Next of Kin 

The hardest part of our job!! 

The Holidays are here! Thanksgiving. 

Christmas. New Years. And, 

while most of the time that translates 

into a lot of fun times, happy 

memories being made and a lot 

of good food being eaten, there’s 

another thing, too…. 

As any Peace Officer will tell 

you, Notifications are one of the 

hardest parts of this job. Anytime 

of the day, night, month or the 

year, its never easy. But at Holiday 

time…. whew. It’ll hurt your heart, 

folks. I’m here to tell ya. 

Today, I responded to a scene 

with a few of my Officers and 

a Patrol Supervisor, not to be 

“Chief” on the scene or whatever, 

but to simply be supportive. 

Without going into a lot of detail, 

the deceased was a medically 

retired employee of the Department. 

Thus, I felt it important to 

be there. 

Fast forward, the Officers were 

busy at the scene and the nearest 

relative lived a short distance 

away. Again, not there to be the 

“Chief” but to sincerely be supportive, 

I told them, I got the 

Notification. No worries. To which, 

come to think of it, I got no argument 

on. 

Anyway, as I was walking up 

the sidewalk to the Next of Kin’s 

residence, a very small framed, 

elderly female opened the door 

and immediately recognized me 

as the Chief of Police and tears 

welled up in her eyes, before I 

ever uttered a word. As respectfully, 

humbly and sincerely as possible 

I made the notification. After 

a few moments, she said, “When 

I saw the Chief of Police walking 

up, I didn’t know what it could be. 

But, I knew it couldn’t be good.” 

Two things here friend….Being a 

Chief, Constable, Sheriff, Director 

etc. carries a lot of weight. A LOT. 

We don’t even have to speak and 

our mere presence causes an effect. 

Secondly, Death Notifications 

are a very serious part of the job. 

There are not always the same, 

either. Some go ok, low key even. 

And others, well, not so much. 

I’d have to say, during this time 

of year, a Death Notification carries 

with it, something which is almost 

downright tangible. It’ll weigh 

on as you speak to people by a 

Christmas Tree, Wreath, Menorah 

or other Holiday Decorations. You 

know the news you’re bringing to 

the door isn’t good. Not at all. And 

you know whatever you’re going 

to say, every single word of it, the 

other person will never forget. 

Believe me, when you’re called 

upon for this specific task, look 

sharp. Wipe the dust and crap off 

your boots. Tuck in your shirt, and 

look the part. Speak with care, 

concern, empathy and respect. 

Tell it for what it is. Don’t jack 

around the subject. That’s disrespectful 

for all involved and does 

you, the Officer, no good what so 

ever. Remember how you look, 

speak and act during the moments 

of a Death Notification with 

CHIEF REX EVANS 

resonate with that person, the 

family and friends, forevermore. 

I would say I can remember each 

one I have made. But over so many 

years, I just can’t. I can remember 

every Officer involved Notification 

and every child death notification. 

Those are seared into my mind 

and into my heart, for the rest of 

my days. There have been some 

nights, deep in the night, I am 

jolted awake by the screams from 

those very Notifications. 

To sum it up, the Holidays are 

usually a great time of joy for 

many. But please be mindful of 

the fact that if you’re called upon 

to provide a Death Notification, 

especially over the Holidays, there 

comes a certain amount of weight 

with that moment. For the family. 

For the friends. And, for you. 

Always remember, look out for 

your brother and sister Law Enforcement 

Officers. Please. No 

one else is. And we of all people, 

should always strive to remember, 

we are in fact our Brothers and 

Sisters Keeper. 

God bless and thank you all for 

supporting this Institution we call 

“The Blues”. Be careful out there!!! 

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READERS SPEAK OUT 

Throwing Down-Ballot 

Candidates Under the Bus 

Imagine that you are a Democrat 

campaigning for a statewide office 

in Texas, where one in six jobs 

is tied to the oil and gas industry. 

Then imagine that two days ahead 

of your election, the Democratic 

president of the United States 

promises at a campaign rally in 

New York there will be no more 

drilling for oil and gas. 

Or imagine that you are running 

for a local office in Harris County, 

Texas, as a Republican, where 

a Democrat has an 8-10 point 

natural advantage. Then imagine 

that the Republican governor and 

legislature pass an abortion ban 

that does not contain an exception 

for rape and incest, a position 

opposed by about 90% of Harris 

County residents. 

Welcome to the world of being 

thrown under the bus as a 

down-ballot candidate. There was 

a time when party leaders at the 

state and national levels cared 

about winning down-ballot races 

as part of building their party, but 

those days are long gone. 

That is because the only elections 

that matter to most elected 

officials are primaries, which increasingly 

have become ideological 

purity tests. If a gubernatorial 

candidate must do something to 

satisfy the primary base but that 

damages down-ballot candidates 

in swing districts, so be it. It is just 

another example of how the toxic 

stew of extreme gerrymandering 

and the primary system have 

poisoned the historic two-party 

system in America. 

Prior to about 1990, we really 

had a four-party system, because 

both parties had conservativeand 

progressive-leaning wings. 

To be sure, these wings were 

minorities within their respective 

parties. Nonetheless, having 

essentially four different “parties” 

allowed for deal-making across 

the aisle. For example, the civil 

rights legislation of the 1960s was 

passed by progressive Democrats 

and Republicans, largely over the 

objection of each party’s conservative 

wings. 

But since 1990, the minority 

wings of both parties have been 

virtually eliminated. This is a chart 

that Lee Drutman’s book, Breaking 

the Two-Party Doom Loop, based 

on data collected by www.voteview.com, 

a research project led 

by UCLA, which shows the demise 

of the minority wings of the two 

parties in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

I suspect that a chart 

of most state legislatures would 

look similar over the same period. 

With the complete ideological 

sorting of the two parties, 

down-ballot candidates who attempt 

to navigate more moderate 

policies to appeal to local voters 

have become sacrificial lambs 

to ideological purity. Candidates 

from both parties cynically use 

the positions of their opponents’ 

BILL KING 

national and state parties’ platforms 

to paint them as ideological 

extremists, even though those 

issues frequently have nothing to 

do with the office for which they 

are running. 

In the process, critically important 

state and local issues go 

largely unaddressed in campaigns. 

In Texas, for example, the failure 

of Texas Republicans to address 

the glaring problems with the 

Texas electrical grid, resulting in 

the worst blackout in decades, 

was barely discussed in the statewide 

elections. Instead, Democrats 

running in Texas were constantly 

attempting to explain and/ 

or distance themselves from the 

Biden administration’s energy and 

border policies. 

At some point, Democrats in 

places like Texas and Florida, and 

Republicans in California, are 

going to have to accept that their 

parties’ platforms are simply not 

viable in their states. Instead, they 

need to find an alternative means 

to attempt to affect policy in their 

states and local jurisdictions. 

12 The BLUES The BLUES 13

AROUND THE COUNTRY 

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX 

Texas officer dies in vehicle crash while pursuing car 

with fake tags. 

By Michael Williams 

GRAND PRAIRIE, TX ‐ Grand Prairie 

Police Officer Brandon Tsai, was 

killed in a single-car crash Monday 

November 14th after attempting to 

stop a car that had a fake paper 

license plate. 

Tsai. 32, was killed after his car 

struck a light pole, according to 

Grand Prairie Police. Around 10:45 

p.m., Tsai noticed a car with fake 

tags near the intersection of Southwest 

3rd Street and Pioneer Parkway, 

in Grand Prairie. 

“Officer Tsai attempted to stop 

the vehicle which immediately fled,” 

police spokesman Mark Beseda said 

in a statement. “During the pursuit, 

Officer Tsai lost control of his squad 

car causing it to strike a light pole.” 

Tsai was taken by firefighters to 

Methodist Dallas Medical Center, 

where he died, Beseda said. 

He had worked for the Grand 

Prairie Police Department since 

January. He previously worked at 

the Los Angeles Police Department 

in California for five years, authorities 

said. 

“He was a loving friend, a trusted 

colleague and an outstanding officer 

whose passion was providing 

service to the public,” Beseda said 

in the statement. 

The crash remains under investigation. 

Tsai’s funeral service was held 

on Monday, November 21st in Grand 

Prairie. 

Mrs. Tsai, you did an outstanding 

job raising Brandon,” an emotional 

Chief Daniel Scesney told Tsai’s 

mother in front of the crowd. 

Scesney revealed the fallen officer 

loved camping, shooting and driving. 

“Fast cars, classic cars, unique 

cars,” he added. 

A handful of Tsai’s favorites were 

parked in front of Gateway Church 

during the funeral service in his 

honor. 

Tsai also loved food. Street tacos, 

Texas barbeque, sushi, dim sum, 

just to name a few. 

“Most of us would bring one 

lunch... Brandon would bring three,” 

joked friend and fellow officer Ilan 

Marhasin. 

Tsai’s sister, Staci Tsai, addressed 

his fellow officers from the stage. 

“Please take care of yourselves,” 

Staci said in tears. “Be safe and 

remember to always tell the people 

that you love that you love them. 

Every day.” 

Tsai’s girlfriend and her 7-yearold 

daughter also attended services 

Monday. Tsai was helping raise the 

young girl, Scesny said. 

“Kinsley would paint his fingernails,” 

Scesny remembered fondly. 

“He’d even take a spin in Kinsley’s 

pink electric four-wheeler around 

the block.” 

OFFFICER BRANDON TSAI 

Scesney also told the crowd Tsai 

spent Thanksgiving volunteering 

at homeless shelters, and revealed 

he saved a suicidal man’s life last 

month when he talked him out of 

jumping off a bridge. 

Tsai was laid to rest with the 

honors he deserved, Scesney said. 

That included the presentation of 

the colors, a 21-gun salute, taps, 

a flyover, folding of the flag, bagpipes, 

the ‘’riderless horse” and final 

radio call. 

Hundreds of Texas police officers 

from departments as far as Lubbock 

and Corpus Christi were in 

attendance as well. 

“Officer Brandon Tsai has now 

been officially sworn in to protect 

the streets of heaven,” remarked 

Scesney. 



CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO 

US Customs Agent Michel Maceda was shot and killed while conducting 

a narcotics operation 12 miles southwest of Puerto Rico. 

By Holly Matkin and Sandy Malone 

CABO ROJO, PUERTO RICO – U.S. 

Department of Homeland Security 

(DHS) Customs and Border Protection 

(CBP) Air and Marine Operations 

Marine Interdiction Agent 

Michel Maceda was murdered in the 

line of duty on Thursday November 

17th, during a shootout with alleged 

drug smugglers. 

The confrontation occurred approximately 

14 miles off the southwest 

coast of the island of Puerto 

Rico, near Cabo Rojo, at approximately 

8 a.m. on Nov. 17, FOX News 

reported. 

“On Nov. 17, at approximately 

8:00AM, three CBP Marine Interdiction 

Agents were involved in an 

exchange of gunfire with individuals 

on board a suspected smuggling 

vessel upon approach 14 miles off 

the coast of Cabo Rojo Puerto Rico,” 

CBP said in a statement. 

The encounter took place along 

the Mona Passage, a major corridor 

for smugglers running cocaine from 

South America, the Associated Press 

reported. 

The three agents were shot during 

an exchange of gunfire with two 

suspects who were aboard the alleged 

smuggling vessel, the agency 

said. One of the suspects was killed 

in the gunfight. 

The second suspect was arrested. 

The three wounded CBP agents 

were airlifted to hospitals in Puerto 

Rico, where one agent was pronounced 

dead. 

“An agent that was transported 

directly to a hospital in Mayagüez… 

they have confirmed he has passed 

away,” said CBP Spokesperson Jeffrey 

Quinones, according to CNN. 

The deceased agent was later 

identified as Michel Maceda. 

Puerto Rico Medical Services 

Administration Medical Director 

Israel Ayala said on Thursday night 

that one of the surviving wounded 

agents remained in critical condition, 

and the other was in stable 

condition, CNN reported. 

“One of them was immediately 

admitted to the stabilization unit 

and is being treated by emergency 

physicians and trauma surgeons,” 

Ayala said. “Meanwhile, the other 

agent is in an area that we call minor 

surgery and is also being evaluated 

and treated by the emergency 

room and trauma services.” 

The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation 

into the deadly shootout, 

the Associated Press reported. 

Quinones said investigators are 

working to determine where the 

boat was coming from, as well as 

the nationalities of its passengers. 

“These are brave members of our 

Air and Marine Operations within 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” 

Homeland Security Secretary 

Alejandro Mayorkas told a Senate 

committee after the gun battle, according 

to the Associated Press. “So, 

the difficulty of this job cannot be 

compared to the difficulty that our 

front line personnel face every day. 

Their bravery and selfless service 

AGENT MICHEL MACEDA 

should be recognized.” 

Later the same morning, a second 

U.S. marine interdiction team intercepted 

another nearby smuggling 

vessel and arrested two suspects 

they found on board, the Associated 

Press reported. 

Investigators also seized multiple 

firearms and other contraband 

from the boat. The CBP said both 

suspects apprehended on the vessel 

are U.S. citizens. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with 

the family of U.S. Department of 

Homeland Security Customs and 

Border Protection Air and Marine 

Operations Marine Interdiction 

Agent Michel Maceda, both blood 

and blue. Thank you for your service. 

Agent Michel Maceda, your life 

mattered. 



BELLEVUE, WA. 

Motor Officer Jordan Jackson was killed when his motorcycle collided 

with a car in Bellevue Washington. 

By Brady Wakayama 

BELLEVUE, WA. — The Bellevue 

Police Department is mourning 

the loss of motorcycle officer 

Jordan Jackson. He died on 

Monday, November 21st., after his 

motorcycle collided with a car in 

Bellevue. He was 34 years old. 

“A tragedy to lose him, he was 

a great officer but an even better 

human being,” said Bellevue Police 

(BPD) Chief Wendell Shirley. 

Shirley reflected on Jackson’s 

life just one day after he died 

from his injuries. He was struck 

while traveling northbound on 

Bellevue Way near Wolverine 

Way. 

“The hardest thing to face a 

wife, his sister, his mother in 

such grief and not be able to fix 

it,” said Shirley. 

Officer Jackson leaves behind 

a wife and two young children. 

OFFICER JORDAN JACKSON 

He was a Washingtonian dedicated 

to serving his community, 

graduating from Issaquah High 

School and Central Washington 

University. He’s been with BPD 

since 2018 and was even on the 

hiring panel for Shirley who was 

appointed to his new role earlier 

this year. 

“I could tell he was a leader 

right from the start, the way he 

carried himself, the way he conducted 

himself, he was friendly, 

he was engaging, and I had a 

few meetings with him in my 

office and I knew this guy was 

an up-and-coming leader,” said 

Shirley. 

As a memorial of flowers and 

balloons expands just outside 

the doors of BPD Tuesday afternoon, 

so does the sorrow from 

the greater community. 

“Horrible to see this senseless 

act happen,” said David Roosevelt 

the owner of Seattle Used 

Bikes, just off Aurora Avenue. 

Roosevelt said Jackson was a 

loyal customer of his since 2019. 

Roosevelt said Jackson was a 

responsible rider and would talk 

about his family often. 

“My heart goes out to them, 

and I hope the kids someday 

understand what a good man 

their father was, and that legacy 

is what continues for him,” said 

Roosevelt. A legacy that should 

never be forgotten. 

“Jordan Jackson paid the ultimate 

sacrifice for serving and so 

I think we should all be grateful 

and count our blessings,” said 

Shirley. 

BPD along with the Jackson 

family are still organizing funeral 

arrangements. 



PUNTA GORDA, FL. 

Charlotte County Deputy Christopher Taylor, was fatally 

struck by a vehicle while conducting a traffic stop. 

PUNTA GORDA, FL. - Charlotte 

County Sheriff Bill Prummell has 

identified the deputy who was 

fatally struck by a motorist while 

conducting a traffic stop on I-75 

near mile marker 163 in Punta 

Gorda. 

Deputy Christopher Taylor was 

struck and killed in Punta Gorda. 

Life-saving measures were given 

on the scene by good Samaritans 

and later by other deputies. 

Taylor was transported to Punta 

Gorda ShorePoint Health and 

regrettably succumbed to his 

injuries. 

The driver, identified Cassandra 

Smith, 30, called 911 after 

losing control of her Jeep and 

veering across three lanes onto 

the shoulder striking the deputy’s 

patrol vehicle which in turn 

hit the deputy. Smith was taken 

into custody by Florida Highway 

Patrol and transported to the 

Charlotte County Jail on charges 

of DUI Manslaughter. Smith is 

from Massachusetts. 

Bill Prummell said this is 

Smith’s second DUI charge and 

that she had just gotten off probation 

for the first. 

Deputy Taylor joined the agency 

in August of 2021 and was 

officially sworn in on February 

14, 2021. He is survived by his 

parents and fiancé. 

“In his little less than a year 

of service to Charlotte County, 

Chris exemplified the core values 

of the CCSO; Integrity, Professionalism, 

and Trust. Chris 

just celebrated his 23rd birthday 

on Saturday. Losing a deputy 

is unspeakably difficult for the 

agency, but the passing of such 

a promising and kind young man 

is a tremendous loss for the 

world,” shared Sheriff Bill Prummell. 

Friends say Christopher Taylor 

worked hard to become a Charlotte 

County Deputy. 

“They say only the good die 

young, and this is the epitome of 

this because he is a wonderful, 

wonderful soul,” Shelly Walton 

said 

Christopher Taylor, or Chris 

as they knew him, worked for 

Shelly Walton at Backstreets 

Sports Bar in Cape Coral. 

“He didn’t have the easiest life 

growing up and he was great in 

school,” Walton said. “He tried 

very hard to get onto the force. 

That was his goal; that’s what he 

wanted to do.” 

Right after he graduated from 

North Fort Myers High School, he 

DEPUTY CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR 

waited on customers, but Shelly 

knew it was not his end goal. 

“The kid worked full-time for 

me for three years,” Walton said. 

“And when he was going through 

the academy, he was still working 

for me.” 

Taylor had dreams of working 

in law enforcement, something 

Walton said he often mentioned. 

“When he was getting hired I 

thought he was going to work at 

the jail, so I was a little worried, 

then after that he told me he was 

going on the road so I was doubly 

worried,” Walton said. 

Walton saw Taylor with a big 

smile at his swearing-in ceremony 

just a few months ago. 



YONKERS, NY. 

Yonkers Police Sergeant Frank Gualdino was killed by 

a 16 year driver with a learner’s permit. 

By Myles Miller 

YONKERS, NY – The Yonkers 

police sergeant killed in a 

multi-vehicle crash involving a 

BMW and Bee-Line bus a day 

ago was identified Friday as 

Frank Gualdino, a married father 

of two who served the department’s 

traffic division, according 

to police. 

Gualdino, who was recognized 

just last month for saving the life 

of a 3-year-old child while on 

a funeral detail, was driving an 

unmarked department vehicle 

while on duty on Tuckahoe Road 

around 3:30 p.m. Thursday when 

a BMW heading the opposite 

way apparently lost control, slid 

across the yellow line and into 

oncoming traffic. 

According to the preliminary 

investigation, the person behind 

the wheel of the BMW M5, a 

sports car, was a 16-year-old 

with a learner’s permit, Yonkers 

Police Commissioner Christopher 

Sapienza said Friday. No one 

with a valid driver’s license was 

in the vehicle, Sapienza said. He 

also said the teenage driver appeared 

to have been speeding. 

Dashcam video released at 

Friday’s briefing shows the BMW 

SERGEANT FRANK GUALDINO 

driver lose control, cross over 

the line and slam into Gualdino’s 

late model Impala and the Westchester 

County Bee-Line bus. 

Sapienza said the investigation is 

ongoing, but that it appears the 

young driver couldn’t handle the 

“extremely fast sports car” he 

was driving. 

The video was released at a 

press conference on Friday. 

“Frank was the victim of a horrible 

motor vehicle accident that 

occurred yesterday,” Sapienza 

said Friday of the 24-year Yonkers 

police department veteran. 

“He was a personal friend, and 

he was an asset to this job. He 

was credited his job and he was 

a credit to the community. And 

this is a tragic, tragic loss for us.” 

Gualdino was the lone occupant 

of his vehicle and died 

at a hospital. The sedan also 

crashed into a Westchester 

County Bee-Line bus, according 

to police. There were about 30 

people aboard at the time. Some 

suffered minor injuries. The bus 

driver was also hurt, but that 

person’s injuries were not considered 

to be life-threatening. 

The driver of the BMW was 

badly injured in the crash. He remained 

hospitalized in an intensive 

care unit on Friday. Details 

on possible charges weren’t 

immediately known. 

Gualdino, 53, was hired by 

Yonkers police in 1998. He had 

been set to retire next year. 

Officers stood at full salute as 

his body was transported from 

the hospital overnight. Funeral 

arrangements have not yet been 

released. 

Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano 

described Gualdino as a friend, 

sergeant, decorated officer and 

a “good family man” who headed 

a prestigious unit. He said 

he was well-respected by colleagues 

and his Westchester 

community and offered condolences 

to his wife, Lisa, and 

children, Emily and Mark. 

“We mourn the loss of a tremendous 

officer. There’s also a 

family,” Spano said. “You know, 

we were all 16 once. We all have 

teenagers in our families. We 

know when you’re 16, you kind of 

like teetering at edge, you know, 

always telling your kids over and 

over again to watch it, to slow it 

down, drive slow -- and sometimes 

they continue to do what 

was just going on out there.” 



LAS ANGELES, CA 

Driver who plowed his SUV into a group of LASD Recruits, was arrested 

and then released due to a lack of evidence, says he fell asleep. 

By Hunter Lee 

The Orange County Register 

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 22-yearold 

Diamond Bar driver was arrested 

on suspicion of attempted 

murder of one or more peace officers 

for plowing into 75 cadets 

out for a training run in South 

Whittier on Wednesday morning, 

and then released a day later 

when Sheriff Alex Villanueva 

stated they didn’t have enough 

evidence to charge him. 

The Sheriff’s Department said 

Nicholas Joseph Gutierrez was 

arrested by deputies just after 

3 p.m. the day of the collision 

and added in its Thursday statement 

that more charges could be 

added. 

Gutierrez, authorities had said, 

was behind the wheel of a SUV 

and on his way to work, suffering 

minor injuries in the crash. 

Then later on Thursday, citing 

the need for further investigation, 

authorities released Gutierrez 

from custody. 

“Due to the extreme complexity 

of the investigation, which 

includes ongoing interviews, 

video surveillance review, and 

additional evidence needed to be 

analyzed, homicide investigators 

have released Mr. Gutierrez from 

the Sheriff’s Department custody 

today at approximately 9:55 PM,” 

the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s 

Department said in a statement. 

Authorities identified Gutierrez 

as the driver of an SUV that 

veered onto the wrong side of 

the road early Wednesday in the 

suburban Whittier area, where 

a sheriff’s academy facility is 

located. 

Seventy-five recruits for the 

sheriff’s department and other 

law enforcement agencies were 

on a routine run in formation 

through the area. Five of the recruits 

were critically injured and 

two remained in critical condition 

Thursday afternoon, according 

to the department. 

Sheriff Alex Villanueva told 

NewsNation earlier Thursday that 

investigators believe the crash 

was a “deliberate act” and that 

there was probable cause to 

make the arrest. 

But he said Gutierrez was going 

to be “provisionally” released 

“until we can have the case iron 

clad, iron proof, and submitted 

to the DA for filing consideration. 

Right now, we want to tie up all 

the loose ends on the case and 

then present it to the DA.” 

It will be up to the county district 

attorney to decide whether 

Gutierrez will be charged and for 

what offense. 

“The Sheriff’s Department 

would like to thank the Los Angeles 

County Fire Department, 

the California Highway Patrol, 

the incredible medical staffs 

who are caring for our injured 

personnel, the other agencies 

that assisted in this investigation, 

and the outpouring of love and 

support we have experienced 

from the community.” 

The entire class of 75 cadets, 

mostly Sheriff’s Department 

recruits but some in line to get 

hired by other Southern California 

police agencies, were 

jogging in four columns on 

Telegraph Road, heading toward 

Mills Avenue, just before 6:25 

a.m. 

Two sheriff’s patrol cars were 

alongside to protect them from 

traffic as they ran in the street, 

the sheriff has said. The class 

went north on Mills, merging 

from four columns into two. The 

patrol cars let them pass and 

went to the rear. 

That’s when the SUV, going 

southbound on Mills at about 20 

to 30 miles per hour, suddenly 

veered into the opposite lane 

and collided with the cadets. 

Some recruits said that the driver 

continued accelerating before 

smashing into a light pole and 

coming to a halt, a sheriff’s captain 

has said. 

In an interview with the LA 

Times, Gutierrez’s attorney Alexandra 

Kazarian, said Gutierrez 

was traveling in a Honda CR-V 

on Wednesday morning to his 

job as an electrical engineer for 

a solar panel company. his attorney. 

Gutierrez, who wakes for 

work at 5 a.m., had been up late 

the night before, she said. 

“He’s a good kid that fell 

asleep on his way to work early 

in the morning,” Kazarian said. 

Gutierrez comes from a law 

enforcement family, Kazarian 

said. His father is a retired 

corrections officer, and he has 

uncles in the Los Angeles Police 

Department, the California 

Highway Patrol and the Sheriff’s 

Department. 

“He harbors absolutely no 

animosity toward law enforcement,” 

Kazarian said. She added 

that reports that Gutierrez was a 

disgruntled academy recruit are 

“completely incorrect.” He “never 

had any association with being a 

recruit,” she said. 



HOUSTON, TX. 

A Houston Police patrol car was riddled with bullets after 

a man opened fire on officers with an AK-47. 

By Ashley Silver 

Police1 

HOUSTON, TX — Photos shared 

by the Houston Police Department 

reveal the shocking aftermath of a 

shooting that left a patrol car riddled 

with bullet holes. 

KHOU News reported the incident 

began when Houston police identified 

a car going at a high rate of 

speed, running stoplights and driving 

erratically. As officers attempted 

to pull over the driver, the suspect 

threw an unidentified item from his 

window in the direction of police. 

The man eventually lost control of 

the vehicle, smashing into a nearby 

tree. 

The driver then began shooting at 

police through his windshield using 

a “AK-47-style” style rifle, according 

to HPD Assist. Chief Wyatt 

Martin. Two officers returned fire, 

hitting the suspect several times. 

“These officers were very lucky. 

If you see the front of their vehicle, 

the suspect was firing from inside 

his vehicle, and he struck their vehicle 

numerous times in the hood 

and in the windshield,” Martin told 

KHOU News. “The officers were 

very lucky that they were not hit.” 

The two HPD officers were uninjured 

in the shooting. The driver, 

who was shot in the arm and leg, 

was taken to a hospital and is expected 

to survive. 

The suspect was charged with 

two counts of attempted murder 

along with other charges. 


BACK THE BLUE AWARD 

FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL 

TROOPER TONI SCHUCK 

Highway Patrol Trooper Toni Schuck 

received the “Back the Blue” award for 

her heroic, selfless actions. She has 

served the state of Florida since 1995 as 

a member of the 89th Patrol School, but 

an incident in 2022 showcased her deep 

commitment to her job and her community. 

Risking her life to save runners in the 

Armed Forces Family Skyway 10K, 

Trooper Toni Schuck crashed her patrol 

vehicle head-on into an oncoming 

drunken driver, driving at nearly 100 

mph directly toward the group of runners. 

She is still undergoing physical 

therapy after the collision. 

“Every day we put on this uniform 

and with the hopes that we’re going 

to come home,” Schuck said 

after being presented the award. 


HEROISM AWARD 

TEXAS DPS 

LT. JAMES MORRIS 

Sgt. James Morris began his career with the Texas Department of Public 

Safety in 2002, and since then, his productivity, loyalty and devotion have 

resulted in the apprehension of thousands of migrants and the seizure of 

tens of thousands of pounds of narcotics. 

“A lot of people don’t realize we work the border out here in the west 

Texas region, we work well with our border patrol agents and our other 

Fed agents out there in our state… It’s just something that I’ve been doing 

every day. And then for Fox News to come out and to fly with us, to walk 

with us a little bit,” Morris said before being met with applause. 

Morris has also assisted in numerous life-saving missions during active 

shooter events, natural disasters and other critical incidents, earning several 

awards and letters of commendation from DPS and other agencies. 

“We catch a lot of good people that come, and they do want to come in,” 

Morris said. “But there is a handful of folks that are murderers, sex offenders, 

druggies, a lot of bad folks.” 

Before joining DPS, Morris served in the U.S. Marine Corps. The father of 

five has been a youth sports coach for more than 18 years, and in February 

2022, Sgt. Morris was the recipient of the William P. Clements Award of 

Excellence. 

After his acceptance speech, Sgt. Morris was promoted on stage to lieutenant. 



TAMPA BAY, FL. 

New Florida bill enables police to arrest, charge street 

racers without witnessing the race. 

By Matt Cohen 

Tampa Bay Times 

TAMPA BAY, FL. — Florida Sen. 

Jason Pizzo said he remembers the 

look on the faces of the transportation 

committee members when he 

showed them a gruesome video of 

a decapitated woman’s head lying 

on the sidewalk. 

The video posted to Instagram 

showed dead bodies — including 

the headless woman — lying on 

the ground in Miami Gardens after 

a “street takeover” — blocking and 

occupying intersections or parking 

lots to perform doughnuts and 

other car tricks — that had gone 

wrong. 

“The video resembles the chaos 

more likely found after a bombing 

in a war zone,” Pizzo, a Democrat 

representing parts of Miami-Dade 

County, said. 

He said showing the video was his 

way to illustrate how street races 

and takeovers can turn deadly in 

Florida. 

Street racing and takeovers have 

been a part of Tampa Bay’s nightlife 

culture for “years and years,” 

according to Sgt. Steve Gaskins, a 

spokesperson for the Florida Highway 

Patrol. 

But now, the internet and social 

media allow street racers to instantly 

show off their speed to large 

audiences. In addition, organizers 

often use social media to spread 

the word about meetups — typically 

at gas stations or parking lots. In 

many cases, dozens of people in 

souped-up rides show up, videos on 

Instagram and YouTube show. 

Pizzo introduced a bill earlier this 

year that was cosponsored by former 

Sen. Ray Rodrigues, a Republican 

who did not seek reelection this 

fall. The bill passed unanimously in 

both chambers and was signed by 

Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year. It 

went into effect on Oct. 1. 

Part of the new law adds street 

racing and street shows to a list of 

exceptions for misdemeanors where 

the police don’t have to physically 

see the incident take place. That 

means just seeing a video showing 

one of those incidents allows law 

enforcement officers to track down 

those involved based on the vehicles, 

license plates or people filmed, 

Pizzo said. 

Violators can be charged with a 

first-degree misdemeanor and face 

a possible fine between $500 and 

$1,000, according to the law’s text. 

The violator’s driver’s license also 

could be revoked for up to one year. 

“People have public profiles that 

are showing racing and doughnuts 

and tear outs and terrorizing a 

neighborhood,” he said. “It’s something 

people can do because there 

were no police officers there.” 

Sometimes, Pizzo said, organizers 

and spectators will use their 

vehicles to block off intersections 

while a driver performs doughnuts. 

If someone gets hurt, there is 

no way for them to get out, or an 

ambulance to get in, he said. That’s 

why the new law also targets these 

types of takeovers. 

Based on arrest reports, the 

Gandy Bridge is one of the most 

common locations for races in the 

Tampa Bay area. Sometimes the 

races are planned, and other times 

they are random. 

According to the reports, they often 

start out the same: Two or more 

vehicles slow down to pull even 

with each other before the sound of 

shifting gears and engines purring 

as they take off down the highway. 

Some videos on Instagram show 

cars purportedly zooming down 

the road at around 130 miles per 

hour. One video on YouTube shows 

a driver claiming to hit 208 mph on 

the Gandy Bridge. 

Dashcam footage from the Florida 

Highway Patrol provided to the 

Tampa Bay Times shows police 

cruisers weaving around traffic 

and driving at high speeds as they 

try to catch up to the drivers operating 

their own vehicles at what 

the troopers describe as “unsafe 

speeds.” 

Gaskins said troopers have operations 

from “time to time” targeting 

racing. They’ll pick spots to wait 

along the Gandy Bridge, anticipating 

a race. Other times, troopers 

happen across races while driving 

around. 

Lili Trujillo founded Street Racing 

Kills — a national outreach and education 

organization that provides 

traffic safety courses and reckless 

driving prevention presentations — 

after her 16-year-old daughter was 

killed as a passenger in a California 

street race. She said the kind 

of speeds drivers engage in while 

racing and doing stunts on public 

streets is deadly. 

“It’s the adrenaline, its the immaturity, 

it’s the no fear of dying 

because they’re young, it’s the way 

of thinking that it’s not going to 

happen to me,” Trujillo said. “It’s 

fun to them.” 

Trujillo said Florida is a hot spot 

nationally for street racing and 

street takeover events, and there 

have been an increasing number of 

these incidents since the COVID-19 

pandemic began. She said some 

people put stimulus checks received 

during the pandemic toward souping 

up their cars. She also said the 

streets were more open during the 

pandemic as people stayed home. 

And that meant more opportunities 

for street events. 

Florida isn’t the only state with a 

law like this, Trujillo said. She said 

there is hesitation in some states 

because police believe street racers 

will use other means to share footage 

that are more difficult to track. 

But people will still share their 

videos anyway, Trujillo said, because 

it’s a chance to get attention. 

“I think social media has been a 

very big part of it,” Trujillo said. “If 

you think about the spectators that 

can watch them — they can put it 

on social media and get all these 

likes.” 

Drivers want their cars to look 

good for the camera, too, Trujillo 

said. That means loud engines, 

flashy wheels and eye-catching 

wraps. There are dozens of custom 

car shops around the Tampa Bay 

area. Some of them specialize in 

speed and power and want to build 

cars for racing, but they say they 

distance themselves from those 

racing illegally. 

Bob Brooks of Vortex Motorsports 

says he can tell when a customer 

is looking to race on the street. The 

business often works with Ferraris, 

Lamborghinis and McLarens. Those 

cars, he said, are meant for racing 

safely on a track with helmets and 

instruction. Vortex customizes cars 

to increase horsepower and, in turn, 

speed. Brooks said he builds cars 

meant for proper racing. 

So when he sees someone come 

to him with a Subaru or a Nissan intending 

to race them, he said he can 

often tell they’re not the customers 

he wants. 

“If someone tells me they’re street 

racing, I don’t want anything to do 

with them,” Brooks said. 

“If you do something and you go 

out and get killed,” Brooks said he 

tells his potential customers in jest, 

“I lose a repeat customer.” 



ST. PETERSBURG, FL. 

Florida officers prevent driver from speeding into 

thousands of 5K racers on Thanksgiving. 

By Devoun Cetoute 

Miami Herald 

ST. PETERSBURG, FL. — A Florida 

woman nearly was the cause 

of a Thanksgiving disaster when 

she weaved around cops to try 

to drive through a 5K race with 

thousands of runners. Officers’ 

quick actions stopped her and 

ended what could have been 

“tragic results,” police said. 

The St. Petersburg Thanksgiving 

Day 5K Turkey Trot was 

already underway Thursday with 

3,000 runners on its secure racecourse 

closed to traffic around 

8 a.m., when Ashlee Morgan, 38, 

sped toward the track, St. Petersburg 

Police said. 

WTVT reported she was driving 

at about 60 mph in her 2019 

Range Rover Velar toward the 

race in St. Petersburg. 

Police say she was driving 

recklessly when three officers 

stopped her and asked to see 

her ID. She refused and hit the 

gas, speeding onto the 5K racecourse. 

“Our officers immediately 

identified the reckless driver as 

being a threat to the runners,” 

police said. 

Another officer tried to stop 

her, but she drove past two 

police cars. She was eventually 

forced to a stop by another officer, 

police said. 

She was then put in cuffs and 

charged with reckless driving, 

leaving the scene of a crash, 

resisting an officer without violence 

and two counts of fleeing 

and eluding. 

“Thanks to the quick response 

of the officers on scene, they 

were able to stop her, and avert 

what could have ended up being 

tragic results,” police said. 

Police later learned she was 

leaving the scene of a crash 

where she hit a stop sign. 

The North Shore Elementary 

PTA said in a statement, “...We 

would like to express our gratitude 

to the St. Petersburg Police 

Department for their quick 

actions to protect participants 

in yesterday’s Coffee Pot Turkey 

Trot 5K from a reckless driver.” 



WASHINGTON, DC. 

Drones manufactured in China commonly used in 

America now pose a huge national security threat. 

By Patrick Droney, 

Reprinted from Law Enforcement 

Today 

WASHINGTON, DC- While Joe 

Biden apparently cozied up to the 

Chinese Communist Party in his 

shady business dealings with his 

son Hunter, we are now seeing a 

disturbing trend taking hold in the 

U.S. as hundreds of so-called “recreational 

drones” manufactured by 

Chinese company DJI have found 

their way into restricted airspace 

around Washington, D.C., Politico 

reports. 

According to the report, hundreds 

of Chinese-manufactured 

drones have ended up in the skies 

over Washington, DC. While the 

drones are allegedly designed with 

“geofencing” restrictions which 

are designed to keep them outside 

sensitive locations, there are 

simple workarounds which enable 

users to bypass those restrictions. 

The existence of the Chinese 

drones is according to sources 

privy to meetings before the Senate 

Homeland Security, Commerce 

and Intelligence committees, federal 

officials and drone industry 

experts. 

The Politico piece is based on 

anonymous sources, seven in total 

comprised of government officials, 

lawmakers, congressional 

staffers and contractors. Politico 

wrote the reasons for remaining 

anonymous is because the sources 

are not authorized to speak publicly 

about the discussions, some 

of which were classified. 

While the sources do not believe 

the drones are being directed by 

the Chinese communist government, 

the violation of restricted 

airspace marks a new chapter 

in users being able to use the 

somewhat inexpensive, but rather 

sophisticated drones which are 

typically used for recreation and 

commerce. 

The new report comes as Congress 

is discussing possibly enhancing 

current federal authorities 

in order to track the drones as 

possible security threats. 

“This is part of a trend of commercial 

drones for potentially 

nefarious reasons,” Rachel Stohl, 

vice president of research programs 

at the Stinson Center, a 

think tank that tracks the global 

drone market, said. 

“We’re seeing in conflict zones, 

in other theaters, the reliance and 

use of commercial drones.” 

“These may be just innocent 

data collection—or really just 

looking around, seeing what’s 

happening—and not in a systemized 

way,” Stohl continued. “But 

the potential, of course, is that 

eventually they could be more 

dangerous.” 

It is unknown what exactly 

Congress might do to address the 

threat posed by the drones. While 

some legislation has been introduced, 

few have made it to the 

committee level, Politico wrote. 

Moreover, the limited authority 

currently enjoyed by non-defense 

federal agency is set to soon 

expire unless Congress votes to 

extend it. It is currently covered 

under the continuing resolution 

used to fund the federal government 

in lieu of actually approving 

a federal budget. That resolution 

expires on Dec. 16. 

While the Chinese government 

may not be directly overseeing the 

swarm of unauthorized drones, 

DJI has received funding from 

investment entities owned by the 

Chinese government which DJI has 

desperately tried to conceal. 

Worse still, with the apparent 

ease which recreational users can 

evade flight restrictions, it isn’t a 

reach to suggest that the high-def 

cameras and other sensors might 

be easily hacked for intelligence 

gathering operations. 

“Any technological product 

with origins in China or Chinese 

companies holds a real risk and 

potential of vulnerability that can 

be exploited both now and in a 

time of conflict,” Sen. Marco Rubio 

(R-FL), vice chair of the Senate 

Intelligence Committee, said in a 

recent interview. 

“They’re manufactured in China 

or manufactured by a Chinese 

company, but they’ll put a sticker 

on it of some non-Chinese company 

that repackages it, so you don’t 

even know that you’re buying it.” 

He continued, “But anything 

that’s technological has the capability 

of having embedded, in the 

software or in the actual hardware, 

vulnerabilities that can be 

exploited at any given moment.” 

DJI however denies any involvement 

with the Chinese communist 

government and says it has no 

control over what customers do 

once they purchase their drones. 

“Unfortunately, while DJI puts 

everything in place to identify and 

notify our customers about areas 

in which they can’t fly, we can’t 

control the end users’ behavior,” 

said Arianne Burrell, communications 

manager for DJI Technology, 

Inc. 

“But we do everything from our 

end to ensure that they do follow 

the regulations that are set out by 

their localities,” she continued. 

The drone maker is the world’s 

largest manufacturer of personal 

and professional drones while its 

products account for most of the 

recreational drones flown in the 

U.S. 

Both the government as well 

as security experts have long 

expressed concerns about Chinese 

communist ties to the drone 

maker, with the Pentagon banning 

purchase of Chinese-made drones 

in 2017. 

The Department of the Interior, 

operator of the largest civilian 

drone fleet in the federal government, 

banned the use of DJI 

drones except in emergencies. 

Sill, thousands of federal, state 

and local law enforcement agencies 

still rely heavily on DJI drones 

according to a 2020 study, Politico 

wrote. 

That study showed public safety 

agencies in the states of California, 

Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin and 

Florida are heavy users of drones, 

with the majority of those being 

DJI drones. 

Commercial drones use GPS for 

navigation and that prevents them 

from operating within Washington, 

D.C.’s restricted airspace. They 

also have instructions for users 

about the need to follow local 

regulations, however it is some- 


what easy to bypass those restrictions 

some say. 

“There’s YouTube videos that 

could walk your grandparents 

through how to update the software 

on one of these drones to be 

non-detectable and to do a whole 

lot of other things—get rid of elevation 

ceilings, all kinds of stuff,” 

a government contractor who has 

helped collect data for federal 

authorities said. 

“If you were to go buy a DJI 

drone at the store, it wouldn’t fly 

over airports or specific cities 

because of a specific no-fly zone. 

So, anything that we see in DC that 

is a DJI-manufactured product has 

been hacked or manipulated to 

enable flight in these zones.” 

Malicious actors might be able 

to take advantage of being able to 

easily bypass restrictions. 

The contractor compared the 

potential threat as that of “an 

eight-year-old kid or an unsuspecting 

adult who got a DJI for 

Christmas and is unwittingly 

collecting data for somebody who 

could become a serious trea.” 

The contractor warned that a 

sophisticated user might be able 

to “use a drone for industrial 

espionage or cyber-attacks.” Or it 

could be something as simple as 

someone using such a drone for 

access to wireless info in a home. 

“One could land a drone on your 

house and start capturing all the 

wireless information that’s being 

broadcast out of your home,” the 

contractor said. 

“Similarly, one could do that on 

a federal building, a power grid 

or other critical infrastructure. 

And the reality is, people on the 

tech side always said, ‘look, at any 

point in time the Chinese can take 

control of a DJI that’s flying in the 

air.” 

Politico noted that the federal 

government has accused DJI of 

having ties to the Chinese government, 

while public records indicate 

Beijing-backed individuals 

are among investors in the company. 

Those links were considered 

when the Pentagon decided to 

blacklist the drones. 

Meanwhile Burrell, DJI’s communications 

manager denies the 

company has any ties to the Chinese 

government. 

“We are a private company. We 

don’t take any money from the 

Chinese government,” she said. 

She also said the company is 

committed to following US laws 

and regulations, claiming the 

company is “passionate about 

flight safety.” 

According to the Federal Aviation 

Administration, there are 

over 870,000 drones currently 

registered in the United States, an 

amount that is three times that of 

piloted aircraft. 

The FAA further estimates that 

by 2024, there will be some 2.3 

million “unmanned aerial systems”—1.5 

million recreational 

drones and model aircraft and 

800,000 commercial drones—registered 

to fly in the U.S. 

With the increase in drones has 

come an accompanying increase 

in drones being flown in restricted 

areas, including violating temporary 

flight restrictions or TFRs that 

are designed to protect the president. 

Since 2018, the Secret Service 

has encountered “hundreds of 

drones” violating TFRs, according 

to Samantha Vinograd, acting 

assistant secretary of Homeland 

Security testifying before the Senate 

Homeland Security and Government 

Affairs Committee. 

In her testimony, she also 

warned that commercially available 

drones can “be used by hostile 

foreign intelligence agencies 

or criminals to collect intelligence 

and enable espionage, steal sensitive 

technology and intellectual 

property, and conduct cyber-attacks 

against wireless devices or 

networks.” 

“The potential implications can 

be significant for sensitive U.S. 

facilities, the defense industrial 

base, technology firms, and others,” 

she added. 

Meanwhile in Washington, D.C., 

there have been a reported 100 

or more incursions in the city’s 

airspace over a 45-day period, 

however sources speaking to 

Politico asked that specific numbers, 

locations, and frequency of 

the incursions not be reported for 

security reasons. 

For example this past summer, 

one such incursion resulted in 

flights into and out of DC’s Ronald 

Reagan Washington National 

Airport being halted. 

“There are a lot more drones flying 

in our airspace than you would 

expect,” the contractor said. 

“You’ll see hundreds of them 

over that same time period, but 

the biggest difference is obviously 

the national capital region is 

the most secure air space in the 

world,” they continued. 

The so-called Special Flight 

Rules Area around the nation’s 

capital consists of a 55-mile ring 

that starts at Reagan National. Any 

user requesting to fly inside the 

area must obtain a waiver from 

the FAA. 

The agency has implemented a 

number of additional steps to detect 

drones to ensure they do not 

interfere with commercial aircraft 

or otherwise pose safety hazards, 

Politico wrote., 

For example, the agency adopted 

a “remote identification rule” 

lasts year that requires drones be 

identifiable with a form of “digital 

license plate,” designed to assist 

law enforcement agencies “find 

the control station when a drone 

appears to be flying in an unsafe 

manner or where it is not allowed 

to fly,” the FAA said. 

The FAA, in addressing incursions 

above sensitive federal 

buildings, said while the agency 

is responsible for managing that 

restricted airspace, it is the Secret 

Service that is charged with 

defending it. 

“Due to the need to maintain operational 

security, the U.S. Secret 

Service does not comment on the 

means, methods or resources used 

to conduct our protective operations,” 

a Secret Service spokesperson 

told Politico. 

Congress has become increasingly 

concerned about the use of 

drones and the potential threat to 

national security. 

In February, Rubio introduced a 

bill to add DJI to a Federal Communications 

Commission list designating 

the company as a national 

security threat. 

That would restrict the company’s 

drones’ ability to link to U.S. 

telecommunications systems. 

The bill has gone nowhere in 

Congress, likely because Senate 

Democrats are more concerned 

about things such as codifying gay 

marriage. 

Rubio proposed the measure 

after a report that DJI was attempting 

to conceal its funding by 

the Chinese government. Rubio, in 

partnership with some Democrats 

has likewise proposed legislation 

to prohibit U.S. government entities 

from using federal funds to 

purchase Chinese-made drones. 

That legislation has also hit a 

brick wall. 

Politico wrote that Democrat 

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich), chairman 

of the Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs Committee 

helped author a bipartisan 

bill in July that would expand the 

authority of the Departments of 

Homeland Security and Justice, as 

well as state and local law enforcement 

authorities, to detect 

and counter drones which may 

present a national security threat. 

That bill would also create a 

database of “security-related” incidents 

involving unmanned aerial 

systems within the U.S. 

Some however worry that a 

nationwide drone tracking system 

might present First Amendment 

issues. For example, the American 

Civil Liberties Union, which 

was absent as COVID restrictions 

that violated a number of constitutional 

amendments went unchallenged 

by the group, claims 

the proposal violates the right to 

privacy, among other rights. 

The group argues that “such a 

system threatens to erase any possibility 

of anonymous operation of 

drones so that, for example, an activist 

wishing to record corporate 

malfeasance or police actions at 

a protest [always after the police, 

the ACLU] might be targeted after 

the fact, or chilled before it.” 

However, with the federal government’s 

current authorities to 

counter drones set to soon expire, 

the Biden administration and other 

federal authorities are urging Congress 

to act. 

“We have located hundreds 

of drones that have been acting 

in violation of federal law each 

time, and as the threat continues 

to grow, we’re investigating even 

as we speak several incidents, 

even within the U.S., of attempts 

to weaponize drones with homemade 

[improvised explosive devices],” 

FBI Director Christopher Wray 

told Peters’ committee on Nov. 17. 

“That is the future that is here 

now, and this authority desperately 

needs to be reauthorized.” 

38 The BLUES The BLUES 39


HAMILTON CNTY, TN. 

Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office unveils a drone command 

vehicle to support its drone team. 

By Ellen Gerst 

Chattanooga Times Free Press 

HAMILTON COUNTY, TN. — A new 

drone command van unveiled last 

month is set to help Hamilton County 

first responders streamline search 

and rescue missions, crime scene 

investigations and other operations. 

The vehicle is the first of its kind 

to be used by law enforcement in 

Tennessee, according to the Sheriff’s 

Office. 

Hamilton County has used drones 

since 2016, Sheriff Austin Garrett 

said. Eighteen pilots from the 

Sheriff’s Office and Hamilton County 

Emergency Management are now 

certified to fly them. 

So far this year, the county’s drone 

team has used the aircraft in around 

670 missions for a total of nearly 

500 miles flown, according to the 

Sheriff’s Office. 

The new van, an enhanced sprinter 

the Sheriff’s Office said cost the 

county $168,100, will be shared by 

deputies and emergency responders. 

It’s an update from the previous 

vehicle the office used for drone 

command, a 2001 work van that 

was modified in-house. The updated 

van will also be used to help 

respond to calls from other agencies 

in the area, Garrett said in an 

interview last week. 

“This is kind of seen as a toy by 

most people, but in this profession, 

there’s a lot of areas that we 

can’t get to on foot and in the right 

amount of time,” Garrett said. 

A 15-foot mast on the van’s roof 

boosts the command center’s connection 

to drones and extends the 

drones’ range, Capt. Mark Hooper 

said. 

Drones are most commonly used 

for search and rescue operations, 

or to find missing people, according 

to data from the Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies also use them to locate 

suspects, map crime or accident 

scenes, and monitor large crowds 

at events including Riverbend and 

the annual Ironman race. 

“When you got a place that’s got 

10,000 people in it, and we get a 

report that somebody’s down on 

the other side, we can fly that, get 

exactly where it’s at and see, OK, 

what’s going on,” Garrett said. “It 

saves a lot of time.” 

He said the drones can also protect 

deputies from being harmed 

when going into a dangerous situation. 

The updated van provides first 

responders with a safe and warm 

place where they can operate 

drones and monitor live feeds in 

any weather. The system can also 

live stream drone footage for other 

responders to watch even if they 

aren’t on scene, Hooper said. 

In April 2020, the drones were 

used to assess damage from a 

tornado that moved through East 

Brainerd and other parts of Hamilton 

County. A few months later, the 

Sheriff’s Office said, deputies used 

drones to monitor protests against 

police brutality that brought thousands 

of people to the streets of 

Chattanooga. 

While most of the county’s drones 

are only equipped with cameras, 

some can also perform thermal 

imaging or drop small items like 

lifejackets to people in hard-toreach 

places. 



ACROSS THE US 

Latest law enforcement news from across the country. 

SAN FRANCISCO WILL ALLOW 

POLICE TO DEPLOY LETHAL, 

REMOTE-CONTROLLED ROBOTS 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Supervisors 

in San Francisco voted Tuesday 

to give city police the ability 

to use potentially lethal, remote-controlled 

robots in emergency 

situations — following an 

emotionally charged debate that 

reflected divisions on the politically 

liberal board over support 

for law enforcement. 

The vote was 8-3, with the majority 

agreeing to grant police the 

option despite strong objections 

from civil liberties and other police 

oversight groups. Opponents 

said the authority would lead to 

the further militarization of a police 

force already too aggressive 

with poor and minority communities. 

DALLAS OFFICER FIRED, 

ANOTHER SUSPENDED AFTER 

FAILING TO HELP DRIVER WHO 

CRASHED 

DALLAS — A Dallas Police Department 

officer has been fired 

and another was suspended for 

30 days after they failed to help a 

driver who crashed his car after 

a pursuit in May. 

Senior Cpl. Leonard Anderson 

and Darrien Robertson, who was 

being trained by Anderson at the 

time, attempted to pull over a 

driver whose headlights were off 

after leaving a convenience store 

on May 13, WFAA.com reported. 

The driver didn’t stop, leading 

to a short pursuit before it was 

called off due to department 

policy. Seconds after the officers 

cancelled the pursuit, the driver 

jumped a curb and crashed on 

the side of a road. 

“Did you see that?” Robertson 

can be heard asking on dash 

cam video. 

“That’s his fault,” Anderson 

replies. 

The vehicle soon became 

engulfed in flames. DPD Chief 

Eddie Garcia said the officers 

returned to the crash scene after 

the vehicle had caught fire, but 

he was “embarrassed” and “outraged,” 

saying: “This is not what 

we stand for.” 

Nearby good Samaritans 

helped the driver until Dallas 

Fire-Rescue arrived. The driver 

did survive. 

“Those citizens did an admirable 

job – and did a job that 

our officers should have done,” 

Garcia said. 

WIDOW OF SLAIN CA OF- 

FICER FILES CLAIM AGAINST 

DISTRICT ATTORNEY 

The widow of an El Monte 

police sergeant announced the 

filing Tuesday of a $25 million 

claim against Los Angeles District 

Attorney George Gascón and 

other parties stemming from the 

ambush death of her husband 

and his partner in June. 

Claimant Janine Paredes, the 

widow of Sgt. Michael Paredes, 

claims the cop killer should 

have been incarcerated at the 

time because of his prior criminal 

record. The claim she filed 

also names as respondents the 

county, the Los Angeles County 

District Attorney’s Office, and the 

county probation department, 

reports KFI AM. She alleges their 

actions resulted in the wrongful 

deaths and emotional distress. 

Her husband and Officer Joseph 

Santana, 31, were ambushed 

and killed by Justin 

Flores when responding to a call 

at a motel on June 14. 

CUFFED SUSPECT SHOOTS 

DENVER COP WHILE BEING 

REMOVED FROM CRUISER 

By Sarah Calams, Police1 

DENVER — A Denver Police 

Department officer was shot in 

the neck by a suspect who was 

being removed from a police 

cruiser at a jail Monday night. 

The suspect, who had been arrested 

earlier in the evening after 

police pursued an alleged stolen 

vehicle and found a handgun 

and narcotics in the car, had a 


concealed weapon on him while 

handcuffed in the back of the 

cruiser, KDVR.com reported. 

The suspect shot one of two 

officers inside the parking structure 

at a detention center. The 

officer suffered a gunshot wound 

to the neck and was taken to a 

hospital with non-life-threatening 

injuries. 

The suspect was shot multiple 

times by at least one other officer. 

He was taken to a hospital in 

critical condition. 

UVALDE OFFICIALS SAY LO- 

CAL PROSECUTOR IMPEDED 

INVESTIGATION INTO POLICE 

RESPONSE TO SHOOTING 

The City of Uvalde is suing the 

local district attorney, accusing 

her of withholding information 

an independent investigator 

needs to conduct an internal 

affairs investigation of the police 

response to the Robb Elementary 

School shooting. 

City officials hired Jesse Prado 

of JPPI Investigations LLC 

to conduct the internal affairs 

inquiry. The suit filed Thursday 

names Christina Mitchell, Uvalde 

County district attorney for the 

38th Judicial District, as the lone 

defendant. It seeks a judge to 

compel Mitchell, who could not 

be immediately contacted for 

comment, to hand over all relevant 

law enforcement investigative 

records and materials from 

all law enforcement agencies. 

“The internal affairs investigation 

by Prado is ongoing, but 

it is significantly restricted by 

the scope of evidence available 

to Prado by defendant,” the suit 

alleged. 

In a statement about the suit, 

city officials said the Uvalde 

community had “waited entirely 

too long for answers and 

transparency” about the May 24 

shooting and the widely criticized 

law enforcement response. 

“Despite the City of Uvalde’s 

efforts to amicably obtain the 

necessary investigative materials 

for its ongoing Uvalde Police 

Department’s Internal Affairs 

investigation, the District Attorney 

has blocked the City’s ability 

to obtain critical information to 

assess its officers’ actions and 

compliance with police department 

policies and expectations,” 

they said in a statement. “From 

day one, the city’s focus is on 

helping the entire Uvalde community, 

parents who lost children, 

children who lost parents, 

and young survivors navigate 

through the healing process.” 

OFF-DUTY DALLAS COP FIRED 

AFTER SHOOTING AT ANOTHER 

OFFICER DURING UBER RIDE 

By Ashley Silver, Police1 

DALLAS — Last week, a Dallas 

police officer was arrested on an 

aggravated assault charge and 

placed on administrative leave 

for allegedly shooting at another 

officer while riding together in 

an Uber. Now, according to the 

Dallas PD, the officer has been 

fired following the incident. 

According to WFAA News, DPD 

officer Anthony Heims is accused 

of pointing a gun at the head of 

another officer while riding in 

the Uber. As the two off-duty 

officers struggled for control of 

the weapon, the gun discharged, 

hitting the sunroof. The Uber 

driver called 911, reporting a 

back seat passenger had shot a 

front seat passenger, according 

to the report. 

Officers later recovered Heims’ 

pistol from the front passenger 

seat of the vehicle. The officer 

in the front seat, according to 

WFAA, “was intoxicated” and 

told officers he “heard a gunshot 

and his ears were ringing.” He 

also said he didn’t remember 

“how he came to be in possession” 

of the pistol, but placed it 

on the front passenger seat after 

the gunshot. 

ARMED SUSPECT AMBUSHES 

OKLA. OFFICERS INSIDE TRAILER 

Police were searching for a 

burglary suspect when they found 

him hiding in a storage area under 

a bed armed with a pistol 

OKLAHOMA CITY — Earlier this 

month, three Oklahoma City police 

officers went inside a trailer 

searching for a burglary suspect 

from Missouri. Once inside, 

the officers made a potentially 

life-threatening discovery. 

Police were searching for Timothy 

Johnson inside the trailer on 

November 15 when they found 

him hiding in a storage area under 

a bed, KOCO.com reported. 

“Shots fired! Shots fired!” an officer 

is heard yelling in the video. 

Footage captures Johnson 

armed with a pistol – pointing it 

directly at the responding officers. 

“Come out with your hands 

up!” another officer yells. 

Two officers run for cover, but 

one is stuck on the other side of 

the trailer. The suspect shoots 

again and police return fire into 

the bed. In the video, one officer 

flies backwards after getting hit 

by debris. 

“I’m hit. I’m hit. I’m hit. We’re 

stuck inside the trailer. I’m hit in 

the face,” an officer says. 

The officers were able to escape 

from the trailer and waited 

for a backup tactical team. Five 

hours later, police went inside 

the trailer and found Johnson 

dead from the gunfire exchange. 

The shot officer was treated 

and later released from a hospital 

with non-life-threatening 

injuries. The owner of the trailer, 

who police said knew the suspect 

was armed when granting 

officers permission to search, 

was arrested for harboring a 

fugitive. 

$27 BILLION LAWSUIT FILED 

AGAINST OFFICERS, AGENCIES 

BY UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING 

FAMILIES 

Attorneys hand-delivered a 

$27 billion lawsuit related to the 

shooting at Robb Elementary to 

Uvalde officials Wednesday. 

So far, the class-action suit 

does not involve immediate relatives 

of the 21 people who died 

on May 24. Instead, the plaintiffs 

are mostly parents of children 

who were on campus during the 

shooting, away from the classrooms 

the gunman attacked, 

KENS5 reports. 

The plaintiffs named specific 

law enforcement officials who 

responded to the incident, along 

with DPS head Steve McCraw. 

They’re also suing the school 

district and former UCISD police 

chief Pete Arredondo. 

The lawsuit states that surviving 

children experience nightmares, 

severe anxiety, emotional 

changes, anger, separation anxiety 

and thoughts of suicide. 

Parents reportedly want to see 

changes with law enforcement 

so everyone can feel safe. Survivors 

are also demanding policy 

changes in the school system as 

well. 

The lawsuit criticizes the actions 

of Uvalde CISD, the Texas 

Department of Public Safety, 

San Antonio Police Department’s 

SWAT unit, Uvalde’s Sheriff’s 

office, and Border Patrol saying 

they “fundamentally strayed 

from conducting themselves 

in conformity with what they 

knew to be the well-established 

protocols and standards for responding 

to an active shooter.” 

Tuesday one of the parents of 

a child killed during the shooting 

filed a separate lawsuit against 

officers and agencies. 

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida police 

chief flashed her badge after she 

and her husband were pulled 

over by a deputy in a neighboring 

county while riding a golf 

cart without a license plate 

outside of a residential area last 

month, authorities said. 

According to a body camera 

video released by the Tampa 

Police Department on Thursday, 

Tampa police Chief Mary O’Connor 

identified herself as the city’s 

top officer, pulled out her badge 

and said to a Pinellas County 

sheriff’s deputy that “I’m hoping 

you’ll just let us go tonight,” 

WFLA-TV reported. 

She was placed on leave and 

now has lots of time to drive 

around in her golf cart. Get some 

tags Mary. 



Mental Wellness Check-ins 

What they are and how they help. 

By Marie Ridgeway, 

Imagine you have a car you depend 

on but don’t take care of. You 

fill it with gas and drive it every day, 

but never change the oil, rotate the 

tires, or add coolant or other fluids. 

When the “check engine” light illuminates, 

you just keep driving. More 

warning lights come on, but you 

ignore them. After all, the car has 

been going for years without any 

serious problems. Why shouldn’t it 

keep running forever? 

Many of us treat our minds the 

same way. We use them every day, 

fill them up with experiences (both 

positive and negative) but otherwise 

take them for granted. We 

actively ignore problem thoughts 

and behaviors, assuming they’ll just 

go away or somehow take care of 

themselves. Unfortunately, like a 

poorly maintained car, neglecting 

your mental health can result in an 

eventual breakdown. 

The primary goal of mental wellness 

check-ins is to provide public 

safety employees with increased 

quality of life as well as tools to 

manage their response to stress and 

trauma. 

First responders deal with difficult 

situations almost every day. They 

see accidents, experience violence 

and witness some of the worst 

humanity has to offer. All those 

images, incidents and experiences 

can get internalized in their minds 

as trauma. 

Unfortunately, the stigma against 

seeking help for this trauma can 

cause the problems to multiply. 

Many in public safety turn to alcohol 

or other substances to dull 

the pain. Some (as many as one 

in four) consider taking their own 

lives. In an effort to improve mental 

health, reduce negative perceptions 

of treatment and break the cycle 

of neglect, my practice, Ridgeway 

& Associates, has put together a 

program that combines mandatory 

mental wellness check-ins and 

optional follow-up therapy sessions 

in a package for law enforcement 

agencies. 

MENTAL WELLNESS CHECK-IN 

PROGRAM 

Going back to the hypothetical car 

mentioned earlier, mental wellness 

check-ins are a lot like checking 

fluids and rotating tires. They provide 

an opportunity for every person 

in a law enforcement agency 

to literally check in with a therapist 

with no pressure or expectations 

– at no cost to the participant and 

with complete confidentiality. 

If everything is fine … great! The 

person has satisfied the requirement 

and nothing else has to happen 

until next year. If the participant 

decides they could benefit from 

therapy for any reason, they can 

come back for follow-up counseling 

(which is also completely confidential). 

Also, if the person doing 

the check-in has unresolved trauma 

or other issues but is hesitant to 

commit to therapy, at least they’ll 

have established a relationship with 

a therapist and know someone they 

can call when they eventually decide 

to seek help. 

WHAT IS A CHECK-IN? 

Some of the agencies we work 

with refer to mental wellness 

check-ins as “a checkup from the 

neck up.” A check-in is an annual, 

mandatory 50-minute session in 

which someone sits down and talks 

with a therapist. 

Sounds straightforward, right? In 

the case of law enforcement employees, 

it’s a private conversation 

between a public safety professional 

and a mental health professional 

who really understands public 

safety and the challenges that go 

along with the profession. Since 

they’re mandatory, check-ins ensure 

every department employee has a 

chance, at least once a year, to talk 

about any problems they might be 

experiencing and determine whether 

they might need additional help. 

The primary goal of mental wellness 

check-ins is to provide public 

safety employees with increased 

quality of life as well as tools to 

manage their response to stress 

and trauma. Check-ins help prevent 

suicide by building positive relationships 

between law enforcement 

personnel and therapists certified 

to work with them so that officers 

understand there is always someone 

who knows how to help and something 

that can be done when stressors 

become overwhelming. These 

relationships might pay off now or 

in the future, depending on each 

person’s frame of mind and individual 

needs. 

WHAT A CHECK-IN ISN’T 

Imagine going to your dentist for 

a checkup and saying, “Hey, while 

I’m here, can I get a quick root 

canal?” That’s not how it works 

– you’ll need to make a separate 

appointment (or multiple appointments) 

for that. Dental checkups 

and mental wellness check-ins are 

both about prevention, not treatment. 

A mental wellness check-in is 

not a therapy session. During the 50 

minutes, the therapist will not evaluate 

you or diagnose you. But that’s 

not to say that a check-in can’t lead 

to therapy. In fact, between 10% and 

20% of the people who come to us 

for annual check-ins end up scheduling 

additional sessions. Like the 

check-ins, the cost of those additional 

voluntary counseling sessions 

are included in the contract our 

practice has with the agency so that 

you can continue to see the person 

you completed your check-in with, 

if you choose. They’re also protected 

by the same umbrella of confidentiality. 

(Read more about this 

below.) 

WHAT DO WE TALK ABOUT? 

With mandatory annual checkins, 

the baseline requirement is that 

the employee make an appointment 

and show up at the allotted time. 

There is no expectation of what a 

participant shares, nor that they 

stay the full 50 minutes, but nearly 

everyone does feel comfortable 

enough to stay and to share. 

In a typical check-in, the therapist 

will take time to get a general 

idea of how that individual is doing. 

If the individual is open to some 

coaching, the therapist may also 

review some of the ways people 

in law enforcement can maintain 

mental wellness, including: 

Physical factors like sleep, exercise, 

hydration and nutrition Mental 

factors like mindset, work-life 

balance and coping strategies 

Social factors like support structures 

(family, friends, workplace 

and coworkers) and group activities 

How stress accumulation can impact 

a person’s physical well-being, 

mood and cognitive function 

The benefits of receiving professional 

mental health counseling and 

therapy and how it works 

If the person participating in the 

check-in doesn’t want to talk about 

any of this stuff, they might tell the 

therapist about last weekend’s fishing 

trip, or the lake house they love 

to get away to. Most participants 

are interested in talking about 

wellness and their unique situation. 

The important thing is the visit, the 

touchpoint and the relationship. As 

therapists, the one takeaway we 

want every public safety employee 

to leave with is that we’re here for 

them when they need us – today, 

tomorrow, 24/7 and on into the 

future. 

CHECK-IN CONFIDENTIALITY 

Mental wellness check-ins are 

not therapy, but the rules of confidentiality 

that apply to therapy 

sessions also apply to check-ins. 


We’ve all heard the saying, “What 

happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” 

… and the same goes for check-ins. 

Nothing that is said during a checkin 

or subsequent therapy session is 

reported back to the employer. No 

diagnosis is made, and because the 

practice bills the agency directly 

(and “in bulk”) there is no record of 

the check-in or therapy sessions on 

the employee’s medical or insurance 

history. 

With mandatory check-ins, your 

agency will see your name on an 

invoice to indicate that you attended. 

That’s it. If you opt for further 

therapy sessions (which are included 

in the program contract), your 

employer will eventually know 

that somebody in the department 

received treatment, but they won’t 

know who or what issues were 

addressed. 

The sole exceptions to this confidentiality 

rule are situations where 

the person attending the session 

is likely to cause immediate harm 

to themselves or others, or if the 

person discloses abuse of a child or 

vulnerable adult. Those notifications 

are mandated by law and ethical 

codes and are made to the appropriate 

law enforcement entity – not 

necessarily the employer. 

WHO NEEDS A CHECK-IN? 

Some might assume that only 

sworn law enforcement officers 

need to get check-ins, but we 

advocate for a different approach. 

Non-sworn employees of law 

enforcement agencies share in 

the stress and trauma their sworn 

colleagues’ experience. Dispatchers, 

crime scene technicians and even 

administrative workers also feel the 

impact. Because of this, we recommend 

that all employees – from the 

chief on down – commit to annual 

check-ins. However, it is common 

that only sworn personnel are required 

to do a check in while it is a 

voluntary benefit for other LE staff. 

FEELING THE BENEFITS: THE 

BURNSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT 

Sergeant Dave Zerwas of the 

Burnsville (Minn.) Police Department 

knows firsthand how helpful 

the check-in/therapy program has 

been at his agency. “We started 

our program four or five years ago 

with Marie Ridgeway’s practice,” he 

says. “I’ve used her myself, and it’s 

benefited me personally. I know the 

program is being utilized because I 

pay the bills when they come.” 

According to Zerwas, the BPD 

wanted to be more proactive regarding 

mental wellness. “We’re 

investing in the front end to prevent 

either losing people or having 

them spiral and have some type of 

incident on the job, which is a very 

real danger,” he says. “If somebody’s 

not hitting on all cylinders, they’re 

more likely to have a use-of-force 

complaint, make a bad decision 

on the street, or have an accident 

because maybe they’re not sleeping 

or focused.” 

Sgt. Zerwas says keeping his 

employees in the best physical and 

mental shape helps prevent losing 

them to medical retirement or termination. 

It also reduces the risk of 

officers creating problems for both 

the agency and themselves. 

“Several of my closest friends 

have, over the last several years, 

been involved in officer-involved 

shootings,” Sgt. Zerwas says. “These 

are all great cops, all of whom I 

admire. When they had their shootings, 

they openly admitted to me 

they were struggling. When you 

don’t get help after something so 

traumatic, you suffer and your family 

suffers. But by dealing with those 

strong emotions, they were able to 

get their lives and families back in 

order and feel whole again.” 

FEELING THE BENEFITS: CROW 

WING COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE 

Meliene Fontaine-Laska is the human 

resources director for the Crow 

Wing County Sheriff’s Office, headquartered 

in Brainerd, Minn. Before 

adding the check-ins and therapy 

sessions as an official program, the 

agency already had a peer support 

structure in place. Still, the leadership 

believed more could and 

should be done. 

“When we first developed our 

program here, we took a long, hard 

look at why we felt we needed 

this,” Fontaine-Laska says. “We had 

a few leaders on our team who had 

incredible passion for officer wellness. 

Part of the reason is that they 

themselves had some baggage that 

they’d been carrying around for 25 

to 30 years – images they couldn’t 

get out of their minds. So, we contacted 

Marie and said, ‘How do we 

do this?’” 

The main focus, according to 

Fontaine-Laska, was on the quality 

of life for all employees: “Who do 

you really have to talk with to filter 

those things out of your work life 

and still have an enjoyable home 

life?” 

Fontaine-Laska likened on-thejob 

trauma to a cup that each 

person carries around, which 

eventually fills up to the point of 

overflowing. “And if you can’t empty 

that cup,” she says, “it becomes too 

overwhelming and you’re just numb 

to what’s going on out there. And 

then something else happens and 

you become very ineffective as an 

officer.” 

With check-ins and follow-up 

therapy sessions, she adds, the 

trauma is still there. It’s just more 

manageable. 

“Every day in county government, 

we put people in harm’s way,” Fontaine-Laska 

says. “This program is 

our way of making sure our officers 

deal with the ongoing, day-to-day 

trauma that builds up over time, 

so at the end of the day or the end 

of the week they can go home and 

have a satisfying life.” 

SUMMING IT UP 

In many ways, we as a nation 

have normalized indifference to 

mental health. Fortunately, this is 

changing. While the old “ignore it 

and it will go away” attitudes still 

Amid stressful year, St. Paul Police mandates annual officer check-ins with therapist 

persist in some places, many public 

safety departments are recognizing 

the importance of proactive mental 

wellness to keep their employees 

healthy and happy (and on the job). 

For public safety, a specialized approach 

with specialized clinicians 

who are culturally competent is key. 

We’ve found that an “all of the 

above” approach is best. Employee 

assistance programs can be great. 

Peer support structures can be 

invaluable. Innovative technologies 

can deliver anonymous help 24/7. 

And mental wellness check-ins are 

the perfect tool to provide mental 

health maintenance and encourage 

public safety employees to seek 

therapy when they need it. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Marie Ridgeway MSW, LICSW, RYT 

is a Master’s-level mental health 

clinician with a specialty in treating 

stress injuries (PTS) and the 

secondary challenges that commonly 

occur (anxiety, depression, 

panic attacks, substance abuse, 

relationship challenges). Marie has 

advanced training in Accelerated 

Resolution Therapy (ART). She and 

her staff of occupationally competent 

clinicians currently work with 

over 40 public safety agencies in 

Minnesota. Marie has worked in the 

field for over 16 years. She completed 

her master’s degree in 2010 and has 

been providing clinical supervision 

for the Minnesota Board of Social 

Work since 2018. She was a training 

specialist for the Minnesota Chiefs 

of Police Association, at numerous 

annual first responder conferences, 

and has worked individually with 

thousands of law enforcement 

officers across the state since 2017. 

Marie brings knowledge and skills 

from her diverse work experience 

that includes child protection and 

psychiatric crisis team response. 

Marie is honored to be providing 

specialized occupationally competent 

care, wellness programming, 

POST training, and Crisis Negotiation 

Team clinical consultation to those 

in public safety who serve our communities. 

To learn more, please visit 

www.marieridgeway.com or email 

information@marieridgeway.com. 

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of 100,000 subscribers. 

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Grief & The Holidays 

Dealing with the pain. 

By David Kessler 

“The holidays are times spent 

with our loved ones.” This has 

been imprinted on our psyche 

from a young age. Holidays mark 

the passage of time in our lives. 

They are part of the milestones we 

share with each other, and they 

generally represent time spent 

with family. But since holidays are 

for being with those, we love the 

most, how on earth can anyone be 

expected to cope with them when 

a loved one has died? For many 

people, this is the hardest part of 

grieving, when we miss our loved 

ones even more than usual. How 

can we celebrate togetherness 

when there is none? 

When you lose someone special, 

your world lacks its celebratory 

qualities. Holidays magnify that 

loss. The sadness deepens and 

the loneliness can feel isolating. 

The need for support may be 

the greatest during the holidays. 

Pretending you don’t hurt and/or 

it isn’t a harder time of the year is 

just not the truth for you. But you 

can – and will – get through the 

holidays. Rather than avoiding the 

feelings of grief, lean into them. It 

is not the grief you want to avoid; 

it is the pain. No one can take that 

pain away, but grief is not just 

pain, grief is love. 

There are a number of ways to 

incorporate your loved one and 

your loss into the 

holidays. 

Holiday Season 

These are the 

biggest and usually 

most challenging 

of all. You can and 

will get through 

the holidays. Rather 

than avoiding the 

feelings of grief, 

lean into them. It is not the grief 

you want to avoid; it is the pain. 

Grief is the way out of the pain. 

Grief is our internal feelings and 

mourning is our external expressions. 

WAYS TO EXTERNALIZE THE 

LOSS GIVE IT A TIME AND A PLACE 

A prayer before the Holiday dinner, 

about your loved one. 

Light a candle for your loved 

one. 

Create an online tribute for 

them. 

Share a favorite story about 

your loved one. 

Have everyone tell a funny story 

about your loved one. 

At your place of worship remember 

them in a prayer. 

Chat online about them. 

WAYS TO COPE 

HAVE A PLAN A/PLAN B 

Plan A is you go to that holiday 

dinner with family and friends 

and if it doesn’t feel right, have 

your plan B ready. Plan B may be 

watching a movie you both liked, 

or looking through a photo album, 

or going to a special place you 

went to together. Many people 

find that when they have Plan B in 

place, just knowing it is there is 

enough. 

CANCEL THE HOLIDAY ALTOGETHER 

Yes, you can cancel the holiday. 

If you are going through the 

motions and feel nothing, cancel 

them. Take a year off. The holidays 

will come around again and will 

always be there. For other people, 

staying involved with the holidays 

is a symbol of life continuing. 

Let the holiday routine give you 

a framework during these tough 

times and lean on a holiday support 

system. 

TRY THE HOLIDAYS IN A NEW WAY 

Grief has a unique way of giving 

us permission to evaluate what 

parts of the holidays we enjoy and 

what parts we don’t. Remember, 

there is no right or wrong way to 

handle the holidays in grief. You 

have to decide what is right for 

you and do it. You have every right 

to change your mind, even a few 

times. Friends and family members 

may not have a clue how to 

help you through this time of year, 

and you may not either. 

It is very natural to feel you may 

never enjoy this time of year again. 

They will certainly never be the 

same as before your loved one’s 

death. However, in time, most 

people are able to find meaning 

again in the traditions as a new 

form of the holiday spirit grows 

inside of them. Even without grief, 

our friends and relatives often 

think they know how our holidays 

should look, what “the family” 

should and shouldn’t do. 

DOS AND DON’TS 

Do be gentle with yourself and 

protect yourself. 

Don’t do more than you want, 

and don’t do anything that does 

not serve your soul and your loss. 

Do allow time for the feelings. 

Don’t keep feelings bottled up. 

If you have 500 tears to cry don’t 

stop at 250. 

Do allow others to help. We all 

need help at certain times in our 

lives. 

Don’t ask if you can help or 

should help a friend in grief. Just 

help. Find ways; invite them to 

group events or just out for coffee. 

Do, in grief, pay extra attention 

to the children. Children are too 

often the forgotten grievers. 

JUST REMEMBER... 

Holidays are clearly some of the 

roughest terrains we navigate after 

a loss. Finding meaning in the 

loss is as individual as we are. We 

often say a part of us died with 

them, but finding meaning is also 

realizing a part of them still lives 

within us. 

What is vitally important is 

that we be present for the loss in 

whatever form the holidays do or 

don’t take. These holidays are part 

of the grieving journey that we 

must fully feel. They are usually 

very sad, but sometimes we may 

catch ourselves doing okay, and 

we may even have a brief moment 

of laughter. Now more than ever, 

be gentle with yourself. Don’t do 

more than you want, and don’t do 

anything that does not serve your 

soul, your loss, or the meaning 

that still lives within you. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

David Kessler is one of the 

world’s foremost experts on grief 

and loss. He is the founder of 

www.grief.com. David has taught 

physicians, nurses, counselors, police, 

and first responders about the 

end of life, trauma, and grief. 

He also volunteers with the Los 

Angeles Police Department as a 

Specialist Reserve for traumatic 

events. 


JAY LENO HITS POLICE CAR 

Leno was en route to comeback stage performance in Hermoss Beach, just two 

weeks after a fiery accident seriously burned his face, chest and hands. 

Jay Leno hit a police 

car as he arrived for 

his much-hyped comeback 

performance on 

Sunday - six days after 

being discharged from 

a burn center following 

a fiery accident that 

seriously burned his 

face, chest and hands. 

The comedian, 72, 

was driving up to The 

Comedy & Magic Club 

in Hermosa Beach, California 

with wife Mavis 

for his regular, evening 

set when the rear right 

tire of his Tesla collided 

with a police Jeep 

in front of scores of 

onlookers. 

Hearing the ominous 

crash, the police officers could 

be seen turning around startled 

as the TV legend pulled up in 

front of the club. 

The star was filmed checking 

with police if he had ‘hit their 

tire’ with cops saying it was ‘no 

big deal’, with no damage done 

to either of the cars. 

Jay, who was seriously burned 

after an explosion from one of 

his vintage cars set him alight, 

looked happy and healthy as he 

addressed the press, quipping: 

‘Ah, the elephant man is here.’ 


Spanish Police Take Delivery 

of 169 Electrified BMWs 

Spanish police in the city 

of Madrid have purchased 169 

electrified vehicles from BMW 

to renew a portion of its vehicle 

fleet. 

The authorities will take delivery 

of BMW i3, BMW 225xe 

Active Tourer, BMW 220i Active 

Tourer, BMW 530i, and BMW X5 

xDrive30d models as part of the 

deal with the German car manufacturer. 

Approximately onethird 

of the vehicles delivered 

will be EVs and plug-in hybrids 

while the rest will be mild-hybrids 

with 48-volt systems. 

The Madrid Municipal Police 

will use the vehicles for a variety 

of functions. For example, 

the all-electric models will 

be used primarily in Central 

Madrid while the X5s can be 

equipped with a host of accessories, 

including a snow 

shovel, winch, traction strap, 

and hooks. 

A handful of these cars were 

handed over to the Madrid 

Municipal Police during a 

ceremony with Madrid mayor 

José Luis Martínez-Almeida, 

BMW Group Spain and Portugal 

executive chairman Manuel 

Terroba, and the general 

director of the Municipal Police, 

Pablo Enrique Rodríguez 

Pérez. 

While the BMW i3 is far 

from the most imposing vehicle 

out there, it has been used by a 

number of police forces around 

the world since its introduction. 

These include forces in Austria, 

Romania, Italy, and the United 

States, including the Los Angeles 

Police Department. 

Interestingly, BMW ended 

production of the i3 in August 

so it is unclear where it 

has sourced these new police 

vehicles from. One possibility 

is that they were all built prior 

to August or that they were 

i3s without buyers that were 

rounded up and converted into 

police vehicles. 


IACP, POLICE OFFICER of the YEAR 

OFFICER THADEU HOLLOWAY 

56 The BLUES The BLUES 57 


True Warrior: 

Officer Thadeu Holloway, 

Dayton Police Department, Ohio 

By Dr. Tina Jaeckle, Contributing Editor 

September 21, 2021: Everything Changed 

A Dayton police officer shot in the left side of his face and 

then returned fire, striking the suspect multiple times, was 

able to request help for himself and the wounded suspect 

as well as direct by-standers to safety. The officer shot 

was identified as Thadeu Holloway, an eight-year veteran 

of the Dayton Police Department, said Matt Carper, interim 

director and chief, during an afternoon news briefing. The 

officer-involved shooting began with an investigation into 

a fake bill passed at a Dollar General store, Carper said. 

Holloway responded around 6:45 p.m. to Dollar General 

at 888 S. Gettysburg Ave. for a fraud complaint after a customer 

passed a counterfeit bill earlier in the day, Carper 

said. Holloway arrived at 7:26 p.m. at the rear of 609 Ingram 

St. and approached 39-year-old Antwyane Deon Lowe, 

who matched the description of the suspect in the Dollar 

General fraud call, Carper said. As Holloway approached 

and addressed Lowe, he ignored the officer and began to 

walk away. As Holloway got closer to Lowe, he turned and 

punched Holloway in the face without warning, Carper 

said. 


The officer used his Taser, and Lowe fell to the ground but 

was able to reach into his pocket and pull out a handgun, firing 

one round that struck Holloway in the left side of his face, 

Carper said. “The officer fell to the ground and immediately 

returned fire with five rounds, striking the suspect multiple 

times. Despite his injuries, the officer was able to effectively 

request assistance for himself and the wounded suspect. The 

officer also provided for the safety of witnesses and bystanders 

by directing them to a place of safety.” 

Police played radio traffic of the incident during the media 

briefing. “609 Ingram. I’ve been shot. ... I returned fire. I need 

medics and I need crews, please,” Holloway told dispatchers. 

“609 Ingram. Please hurry. I’ve been shot on the left side of my 

head. I can barely hear my earpiece.” 

Another Dayton officer took Holloway in a marked cruiser to 

Miami Valley Hospital. His left temporal artery was torn in the 

shooting, but he was in stable condition. Dayton police who 

arrived provided aid to Lowe, and Dayton medics took him to 

Miami Valley Hospital. Police said he was in critical condition 

but was later upgraded to stable condition, police said. 

Holloway’s bodycam video, which was played during the 

media briefing, showed Holloway try to speak to Lowe and the 

point when Lowe suddenly turned around and punched the 

officer. Holloway immediately used his Taser and Lowe fell 

to the ground, but the Taser appeared to have limited effect. 

Lowe ignored Holloway’s commands to put his hands behind 

his back and get on his stomach. Lowe pulled a gun from his 

pocket and shot Holloway in the face; the video showed. Holloway 

returned fire, and requested help. He maintained contact 

with police dispatchers and asked concerned residents 

to stay inside and assured them that help was on the way. 

Carper said charges that will be filed against Lowe include 

two counts of felonious assault on a police officer as well as 

carrying a concealed weapon, weapons under disability and 

counterfeiting. 


In a Split Second 

“When he turned to face me, I knew something 

was wrong,” Holloway said. He said the suspect 

threw a punch, so he tased him. Despite multiple 

requests to put his hands behind his back, Holloway 

said the suspect reached for a gun and shot 

him in the head. “I knew I’d been shot, obviously. 

I fell to the ground, I never lost consciousness, I 

knew what happened. I knew what I had to do, so 

after I had returned fire, I was in my head thinking, 

‘I’m going to die,’” Holloway said. He was covered in 

blood and knew he had to get to the hospital fast. 

“I could feel the blood spewing out of my head, I 

could taste the blood as it was running from my 

face, I could see it as it was pooling in front of 

me,” he recalled. 



Family Matters 

His wife Amanda Holloway 

was home with their two girls 

when she got the phone call. 

When she turned on Main Street 

and saw the street covered with 

police cars, she knew that wasn’t 

a good sign. All she could do 

was wait while doctors worked 

on his injuries. 

“The bullet hit right here on 

my temple, and traveled underneath 

the skin and then came out 

here,” Thadeu recalled. Recovery 

has been a long, difficult, and 

ongoing process. Holloway said 

he is still dealing with a traumatic 

brain injury, memory issues 

and headaches. He also has 

trouble finding words, has ringing 

in his ear and some hearing, 

as well as vision loss. 

Law enforcement has always 

been a part of Thadeu and 

Amanda’s life. She started as a 

dispatcher 19 years ago and now 

works in the administrative office 

at the Huber Heights (Ohio) 

Police Division. Thadeu joined 

the National Guard in high school 

and got deployed three times. 

He spent nine years as a Dayton 

police officer. “In January 2022 I 

actually fought with my doctors 

to at least go back to work, they 

wanted me stay off work a little 

longer and I couldn’t stay off,” he 

said. He’s now on light duty, 20 

hours a week. 

In the meantime, his memories 

have brought him back to the 

night of the shooting every time 

an officer in our area has been 

shot on the job. “Definitely brings 

back the night of my shooting, 

makes me feel guilty that I survived 

and some of them didn’t, 

and it just makes me realize how 

dangerous being a police officer 

is,” Thadeu said. For now, he is 

focusing on his family. “My goal 

is to just be able to take care of 

my family, whatever that entails, 

you know whether it’s going 

back out to the streets or going 

a different avenue, I just want to 

make sure I’m still here, still able 

to take care of my family for you 

know a long time,” he said. 

Help on the 

Homefront 

Although Officer Holloway 

has now returned to light duty, 

the last few months have been 

a challenging period of time in 

which the main focus continues 

to be primarily on recovery. The 

inability to work clearly impacted 

everyday needs. One of those 

needs included a new roof which 

was out of question, until now. 

Thanks to DryTech Exteriors 

‘Roofs For Troops’ program, construction 

on his new roof went 

from start to finish in one day. 

“I’m not a veteran because I 

want accolades, I didn’t become 

a cop to get accolades,” Officer 

Holloway said. “Unfortunately, 

what happened with me as a 

police officer was a tragic incident…The 

fact that there’s a 

company out there willing to 

show their appreciation for that 

is awesome.” Officer Holloway 

was selected out of 100 nominees. 

“So many heroes in our community, 

you just don’t realize 

the stories that they carry of 

their service and sacrifice to our 

country,” Allie Hosler, co-owner 

of DryTech Exteriors, said. “To 

also be a police officer, who 

was shot in the head in the line 

of duty, we owe him so much. 

Putting a roof over his head is 

the least we can do.” Brad Hosler, 

who co-owns the company 

alongside his wife, said that 

Officer Holloway’s new roof is 

expected to last thirty years. 

Awards and 

Recognition 

Just a few days after his release 

from the hospital, Officer 

Thadeu Holloway attended the 

Annual Montgomery County 

(Ohio) Law Enforcement Memorial 

Ceremony which honors the 

40 officers county-wide who 

have died in the line of duty. 

Along with honoring those officer’s 

sacrifices, those in attendance 

also took time to speak 

with Holloway. “Haven’t we just 

witnessed in these last days the 

transformation of tragedy into 

triumph?” Keynote speaker Dr. 

Col. Kathy Platoni asked during 

her speech. “This, Officer Holloway, 

is what valor, courage and 

true heroism look like.” In addition, 

the Montgomery County Association 

of Police Chiefs named 

him officer of the year. 

The officers and those in attendance 

gave Holloway a round 

of applause and many took time 

after the ceremony to greet him 

and wish him well. “The officer 

fell to the ground and immediately 

re-turned fire with five 

rounds, striking the suspect multiple 

times. Despite his injuries, 

the officer was able to effectively 

request assistance for himself 

and the wounded suspect,” Interim 

Director and Chief Matt Carper 

said. “The officer also provided 

for the safety of witnesses 

and bystanders by directing them 

to a place of safety.” Carper said 


Holloway showed “remarkable” 

calmness and professionalism 

in the moments following the 

shooting. 

In October 2022, Ohio Attorney 

General Dave Yost recognized the 

significant contributions of several 

peace officers, including Officer 

Holloway, who was selected 

to receive the Valor Award. 

“There are officers all over Ohio 

who heroically serve our communities 

every day and are the 

backbone of the civil society we 

all enjoy,” Yost said. “The officers 

being honored represent the best 

of those heroes, and I am proud 

of their dedication to protecting 

the unprotected.” The scar on the 

left side of Officer Holloway’s 

head is a testament to his bravery 

and a reminder of the fine 

line between life and death. 

In recognition of Officer Holloway’s 

bravery, the National 

Association of Police Organizations 

also honored the 

nine-year veteran with the TOP 

COPS award and the Citizens 

Choice award. Each year since 

1994 NAPO has presented the 

TOP COPS Awards® Ceremony. 

The purpose of the TOP COPS 

Awards® is to educate the American 

public about our nation’s 

heroes and to pay tribute to law 

enforcement officers in federal, 

state, county, tribal and local 

agencies from across the country 

for actions above and beyond 

the call of duty during the preceding 

year. Our TOP COPS are 

nominated by fellow officers. An 

independent Awards Selection 

Committee comprised of national 

law enforcement representatives 

select, from hundreds of 

nominations, one TOP COP case 

from each of the 50 States and 

U.S. territories. Officers from the 

top ten cases are selected as our 

TOP COPS Award® Winners. In 

each remaining state, one case 

has been selected for which the 

officer(s) will receive an Honorable 

Mention award. 

International 

Association of Chiefs 

of Police/2022 Axon 

Officer of the Year 

During the 2022 annual IACP 

conference in Dallas, Texas, Officer 

Holloway was selected for 

the prestigious IACP/Axon Police 

Officer of the Year Award for exceptional 

achievement. According 

to the IACP website, every 

day, police officers perform selfless 

acts in their commitment to 

public service and community 

safety. Acknowledging these acts 

formally provides the opportunity 

to showcase exceptional work 

of the profession and provides 

the ability to emulate these everyday 

achievements. The IACP/ 

Axon Police Officer of the Year 

Award elevates the recognition 

of these acts to the global stage 

thereby impacting the profession 

as a whole by highlighting those 

who exemplify selflessness, 

empathy, and strength of character. 

It is an unparalleled award 

experience for the officer to 

share with their family and their 

department. It also provides an 

unmatched professional development 

opportunity. The IACP/ 

Axon Police Officer of the Year 

Award represents the best of the 

police profession. 

IACP noted the following as the 

basis for selection for this prestigious 

award. On September 21, 

2021, Officer Thadeu Holloway of 

the Dayton Police Department, 

Ohio, was investigating a fraud 

complaint. He located a person 

matching the description of the 

suspect and approached him on 

foot. As Officer Holloway approached, 

the suspect became 

violent, rapidly escalating from 

physical force to deadly force in 

his attacks and shooting Officer 

Holloway in the head. Officer 

Holloway transitioned from his 

electronic control weapon to his 

pistol and returned fire, striking 

the suspect. Wounded, Officer 

Holloway stood guard over the 

suspect, summoned additional 

officers and rescue personnel to 

the scene, and maintained scene 

control by issuing clear and calm 

directions to ensure the safety 

of bystanders. Officer Holloway’s 

quick reaction and presence of 

mind resulted in the arrest of a 

violent offender. 

On behalf of all at The BLUES 

Police Magazine, we extend 

our deepest appreciation to 

Officer Holloway for his dedication 

to continue to serve 

and protect. A grateful nation 

continues to lift he and his 

family up in the journey on the 

road to recovery. 



800-367-5855 



SPOTLIGHT ON 

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Holiday Gift Ideas for Your 

Law Enforcement Family 

Police Patrol Bag 

This tactical gear bag can be installed 

quickly and comes with top and side 

adjustable buckle straps for fastening 

to the car seat, ensuring the patrol bag 

stays in place. The two compartments 

hold an enormous amount of gear 

and documents, helping to keep you 

organized while you’re on patrol. 

Tactical Self Defense Pen 

“The Pen is Mightier…” has never 

rung more true! This durable pen 

is made from CNC machines aircraft-grade 

aluminum for superior 

strength and is used by military pilots, 

Navy SEALS, first responders, SWAT, 

and other challenging professions. It 

has stood up well to the rigors of daily 

use and will work well for you! If you 

need the ultimate pen for the top cop, 

this is it! 

Can’t Fix Stupid Coffee Mug 

If you need a cup of coffee and a 

donut in between busts then this is the 

coffee mug for you! This hilarious coffee 

mug will make the police officer in 

your life laugh out loud with delight! It 

holds 11oz of your favorite beverage, 

is dishwasher and microwave safe 

and is sure to be their favorite morning 

coffee mug for years to come! 

Thin Blue Line Concealed Carry 

Hoodie 

Rothco’s Thin Blue Line Concealed 

Carry Hoodie is a comfortable 100% 

polyester performance material. It 

features a sizeable pass-through 

kangaroo pocket with an access point 

beneath for optimal concealed carry 

access. A distressed Thin Blue Line 

flag print is displayed on the front, left, 

and back. Both Thin Blue Line Flag 

sweatshirt sleeves possess a 4.5 x 

4.5 zippered pocket and thumb holes 

in the cuffs to prevent sleeves from 

riding up. 

12 Gauge Shot Glasses 

Fire away while hunting and drink at 

the campfire afterward with these 

Buckshot Shot glasses. Each shot 

glass holds 2 ounces and is made 

from high-quality polyethylene. This 

shot glass gift pack comes with four 

plastic thin blue line shot glasses 

modeled after 12 gauge shells. They’ll 

make a great addition to the man 

cave, bar, or party. 

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Thin Blue Line Travel Tumbler 

This 20-ounce stainless steel travel 

tumbler is double wall vacuum insulated, 

so it will keep your drinks hot or 

cold no matter what the temperature 

is outside! This travel tumbler would 

make a great gift for Christmas, birthday 

present, Father’s Day gift, Anniversary 

present, or just a welcomed 

thank you to someone you know in the 

law enforcement community. 

Grunt Style Flag T-Shirt 

What you wear is more than just a 

necessity; it’s about attitude! This 

shirt is instilled with the heroic American 

spirit that our military and police 

officers exhibit every day! You do not 

have to be a veteran to wear Grunt 

Style, but you do have to love freedom. 

All Grunt Style shirts are proudly 

printed in Carol Stream, IL., by a team 

of Veterans and Patriots who take 

pride in themselves, their military, and 

their country. 

Collapsible Can Cooler 

This 2-pack Thin Blue Line can cooler 

makes a great gift idea for that police 

officer in your life who loves to keep 

his beer or soda can ice cold! The Thin 

Blue Line American Flag print means 

they’ll feel supported and appreciated 

each time they slide a can into the 

cooler! 

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 2022 

CENTRAL POLICE SUPPLY 

GLOCK 43X BLACK 

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Custom Wall Mount Gear Rack 

This thin blue line wooden police 

shelf organizer makes organizing 

your police duty gear practical and 

straightforward! It is designed to keep 

your vest, duty belt, cap, police badge, 

radios/scanners, challenge coins, and 

much more perfectly organized. Stop 

wasting time finding your duty gear 

and EDC items & stay organized with 

this police rack for gear at home. 

Policeman Prayer Flashlight Pen 

This engraved Policeman’s Prayer 

3-in-1 inspirational stylus pen combines 

multiple functions into a sleek, 

compact design. It is an essential tool 

for any cop’s glove box, providing a 

rubber stylus tip for operating touch 

screens, a writing tip for filling out 

forms and reports, and a flashlight 

that assists with writing at night. 

Saint Michael Challenge Coin 

This challenge coin makes a thoughtful 

gift to give to a friend or family 

member mourning a loved one. On the 

reverse side of the coin is St. Michael, 

the patron saint of law enforcement 

officers. On the obverse is the verse of 

Matthew 5:9, which reads, “Blessed 

are the peacemakers for they shall be 

called the children of God.” 

Arrest My Vest Odor Eliminator 

This odor removal spray seriously 

works! It removes body odor and all 

types of odors in law enforcement, 

including vomit, urine, smoke, filth, 

BO, etc. The unique professional-grade 

formula is effective for the Military, 

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Footwear for 

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Tactical Vest Koozie 

This is a funny drink koozie that is 

shaped like a tactical best, with the 

word police sewn into the front of it. 

It’s the perfect drink holder for a police 

officer, especially if they do any of the 

tactical type missions where they’re 

wearing the same sort of gear. 

Police Badge RFID Wallet 

These police wallets with badge 

holders were crafted using top-quality 

leather that’s supple but sturdy 

and will develop an attractive patina 

through wear and aging, the 

distinctive appearance of a choice 

accessory. Sandwiched between the 

scratch-resistant leather is a layer of 

RFID blocking material to help keep 

your credential secure. This functional 

wallet is ideal for the police, TSA, firefighters, 

private investigators, and law 

enforcement security officers. 

Police Rescue Truck Toy Set 

This police carrier truck set comes 

with twelve diecast vehicles, twelve 

police figures, and a police carrier 

truck. It’s the perfect gift for young 

kids to explore their imagination and 

perfect their hand-eye coordination. 

Each vehicle performs different duties, 

and your little one will be lost in playtime 

for hours with this fun set! 

Custom State Line Burlap 

This gorgeous custom state line burlap 

print is the perfect gift to help officers 

decorate their homes. This personalized 

gift can be customized with their 

name, the state they’re protecting, 

their time serving, and more! This 

company is easy to work with and has 

a 91% five-star rating! Whether they 

just graduated police academy or have 

been on the force for years, this is a 

gift idea they will love! 


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Kickass Rides for Adults 

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ARCTIC CAT WILDCAT XX SE 

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See more on Page 102 


Kickass Rides for Kids 

Ride-on electric cars are 

all the rage among kids 

these days. But it’s not just 

cars! Trucks, motorcycles, 

tractors, quads—you 

name it, there’s a ride-on 

electric toy for every little 

one. If you’re looking for a 

gift for the little car-lover 

in your life, check out 

the best ride-on electric 

cars for kids, as chosen by 

the experts at your favorite 

automotive magazine, 

Car&Driver. 

BEST RIDE-ON ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR FOR KIDS 

RIDE-ON LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR 

There’s not a junior auto enthusiast on the 

planet who hasn’t marveled at the sleek 

lines and scissor doors of a Lambo. 

This officially licensed Aventador 

sports LED headlights, horn and 

engine sounds, a working suspension, 

water-resistant wheels, and 

hydraulic-powered doors that really 

swing open. Older kids can operate it 

independently using the steering wheel 

and pedal; for younger kids, parents can 

use the remote control to steer the toy. 

Powered by two 25-watt motors and 12- 

volt rechargeable batteries, kids can enjoy up 

to two hours of ride time, with speeds up to 2.2 

mph. 

BEST RIDE-ON ELECTRIC JEEP FOR KIDS 

FLASHIEST RIDE-ON ELECTRIC CAR 

PINK RIDE-ON LAND ROVER 

Little adventure seekers will get a kick out of this 

replica Jeep, with its LED headlights, lockable 

doors, grid windshield, and off-road tires. It includes 

a parent remote, spring suspension, and a 

safe and manageable max speed of just 2.8 mph. 

It comes in five colors: black, blue, green, red, 

and white. 

While this ride-on Jeep replica claims 

to be for kids aged three to six, reviewers 

say that because of the roll bar 

it’s actually ideal for younger, smaller 

kids who can easily slide into the seat. 

Keep an eye on that weight limit. 

Also available in black, white, or red, this 

adorable Land Rover Discovery SUV is pretty 

in pink and perfect for little ones who want 

to own the road—er, sidewalk. It features 

2-wheel suspension, a parent remote, and 

can cruise at either a low speed of 1.8 

mph or a max speed of 3.7 mph. It also 

sports working LED headlights, a horn, 

startup sounds, and an AUX input so 

your little babe can cruise in style. Best 

of all, it’s got side-by-side seats for 

playdate fun. 

It’s designed for ages three and up but 

roomier than most others; some reviewers 

say their six- and eight-year-olds still fit 

in it. 


RIDE-ON CAR MASERATI FOR KIDS 

This marvelous Maserati comes in red, black, and pink, 

as well as white. It features working headlights 

and horn, a movable rearview mirror, MP3 

input, a high/low speed switch, and doors 

that really open and close. Like all the 

best electric cars for kids, it also sports 

a remote control for parents to keep 

their little racer from driving away. 

With a top speed of about 2 mph, it 

offers a full hour of play time, depending 

on speed and terrain. 

Recommended for kids three to six 

years of age, it has a weight capacity 

of 77 pounds. 

DIRT ROCKET RIDE-ON MOTOCROSS BIKE 

Older kids will love these little electric motorcycles. 

Available in MX and SX packages, with 350-, 500-, 

or 650-watt motors, they come in blue, yellow, or 

green. The 350-watt version (ages 13 and up) can 

hit speeds up to 14 mph for about 30 minutes of 

ride time; the 650 (16 and up) jacks that to about 

17 mph with around 45 minutes of ride time; the 

500 (14 and up) falls in the midrange. Pricing is 

relative. All feature dual suspension and riser 

handlebars, pneumatic knobby tires, a retractable 

kickstand, and hand-operated dual disc 

brakes. 

While all are undeniably cute and cool, it’s important 

to note that these motocross bikes are not toys 

designed for small children. 

RIDE-ON JOHN DEERE TRACTOR 

RIDE-ON MERCEDES-BENZ 

This officially licensed G63 comes with tons 

of authentic touches, including exhaust 

pipes, body detail decals, and 

opening doors that lock from the outside 

for safety. The seat belt and 

soft-start design prevent kids 

from being startled by sudden 

acceleration. The spring 

suspension ensures smooth 

rides. 

We really like that the side 

window piece can be removed 

as kids grow, extending 

the usable life of the toy. 

Ever see a kids’ toy and wish you would’ve had one 

when you were that age? That’s the way this mini John 

Deere has us feeling. This thing is remarkable! It’s got 

two speeds—2.25 and 4.5 mph—plus reverse. (High 

speed can be disabled for beginners.) It operates 

via an accelerator pedal and has farm-like tractor 

wheels for traction on grass, dirt, 

gravel, or pavement. It also has a 

cool stake-side trailer and (get this!) 

a working FM radio. 

All that’s super-cool, but as parents, 

we love the fact that it recharges in 

just two hours (claimed). 


DECEMBER 

1-2 School Resource Officer Training *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

5-6 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations and Retention *BY PATCLas Vegas, NV 

5-9 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Jeffersonville, IN 

5-9 Field Training Officer Certification *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

5-9 Hostage Negotiations Phase 1 By LLRMI Abington, PA 

7-8 Courtroom Security and Threat Assessment *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

7-9 The Essential Field Training Officer By LLRMI Urbana, IL 

12-13 Advanced Internal Invest: Legal and Practical Issues *BY PATC Idaho Falls, ID 

12-14 Ambush and Lethal Environment Recognition Training *BY PATC Albuquerque, NM 

12-14 Investigating Basic Sex Crimes *BY PATC Ocala, FL 

12-16 Field Training Officer Certification *BY PATC Waterville, OH 

12-16 Train the Trainer Instructor Academy Las Vegas, NV 

13-14 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Fort Myers , FL 

20-21 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Greeley, CO 

JANUARY 

9-10 Courtroom Security and Threat Assessment *BY PATC West Monroe, LA 

9-13 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Hayden, ID 

9-13 Field Training Officer Certification *BY PATC Rock Hill , SC 

9-13 Internal Affairs Conference and Certification *BY PATC Hoover, AL 

10-11 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Austell, GA 

10-12 Fire/Arson Investigation and Arson Case Management By LLRMI Upper Darby, PA 

10-12 Responding to Veterans and Police Officers in Crisis *BY PATC Royal Oak, MI 

11-12 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Abington, PA 

16-20 New Fire and Arson Investigator Academy *BY PATC Wayne, NJ 

16-20 Train the Trainer Instructor Academy Scott, LA 

23-24 Search Warrant Major Case Investigation *BY PATC Hoover, AL 

23-27 Fit-to-Enforce Fitness Instructor Course Huntsville, AL 

23-27 Special Operations Supervisors Training Nashville, TN 

26-27 Responding to Veterans and Police Officers in Crisis *BY PATC Jonesboro, GA 

30-3 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Belfast , ME 

31-1 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Beaumont, TX 

FEBRUARY 

1-2 3-Day New Detective and New Criminal Investigator By LLRMI Pearl River, LA 

1-2 Officer Involved Shooting By LLRMI Pearl River, LA 

6-8 The Essential Field Training Officer By LLRMI Abington, PA 

6-10 Advanced Vice and Narcotics Investigations Nashville, TN 

6-10 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Pearland, TX 

8-9 Investigating Cases of Child Homicide By LLRMI Ft. Worth, TX 

9-10 Crisis Communications for Dispatchers *BY PATC Greeley, CO 

13-14 Courtroom Security and Threat Assessment *BY PATC Greeley, CO 

13-17 5 Day New Detective and New Criminal Investigator By LLRMI Abington, PA 

14-15 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Easley, SC 

14-16 Interview & Interrogation for New Detectives BY LLRMI Ft. Worth, TX 

15-17 Ambush and Lethal Environment Recognition Training *BY PATC Greeley, CO 

16-17 PREA Investigator Training By LLRMI Lexington, KY 

21-22 Arrest, Search and Seizure - Best Practices *BY PATC Hoover, AL 

21-23 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Colton, CA 

27-28 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Myrtle Beach, SC 

27-1 Principles for De-escalation and Understanding People *BY PATC Greeley, CO 

27-1 Responding to Veterans and Police Officers in Crisis *BY PATC Scotch Plains, NJ 

FEBRUARY 

27-3 5 Day Homicide and Death Investigation By LLRMI Georgetown, TX 

27-3 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Myrtle Beach, SC 

27-3 Hands-On Hostage Negotiator Certification By LLRMI Urbana, IL 

27-3 Internal Affairs Conference and Certification *BY PATC Myrtle Beach, SC 

27-3 Smartphone Technology and Forensics Certification LLRMI Shelby Twp., MI 

28-2 Interview & Interrogation for New Detectives BY LLRMI Rio Rancho, NM 

MARCH 

2-3 Stress Management in Law Enforcement *BY PATC Myrtle Beach, SC 

6-7 Recruiting, Hiring, Background Investigations *BY PATC Nampa, ID 

6-10 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Noblesville, IN 

7-8 Basic Drug Investigation By LLRMI Stapleton, AL 

13-17 Hostage Negotiations Phase 1 By LLRMI Ft. Worth, TX 

14-16 3-Day New Detective and New Criminal Investigator By LLRMI Franklin, IN 

14-16 Sexual Deviant Offenders *BY PATC League City, TX 

20-23 Bravo-3 Law Enforcement Training Conf. Daytona Beach, FL 

21-22 Investigating Cases of Child Homicide By LLRMI Stapleton, AL 

21-23 Hands-On Vehicle Fire/Arson Investigation By LLRMI Longview, TX 

27-31 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Charlotte, NC 

APRIL 

4-6 3-Day New Detective and New Criminal Investigator By LLRMI Ft. Worth, TX 

11-12 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Hoover, AL 

17-21 Field Training Officer Certification *BY PATC Texas City, TX 

18-19 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Texas City, TX 

24-25 Advanced Internal Investigations: Legal & Practical Issues *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

24-25 Arrest, Search and Seizure - Best Practices *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

24-28 5 Day Cellular Technology and Forensics (CTF) Certification-LLRMI Urbana, IL 

24-28 5 Day Homicide and Death Investigation By LLRMI Franklin, IN 

24-28 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Texas City, TX 

24-28 Use of Force Conference and Certification By LLRMI Clermont, FL 

25-27 Hands-On Vehicle Fire/Arson Investigation By LLRMI Upper Darby, PA 

25-27 Violent Crime Symposium 2023 Wilmington, DE 

26-28 Human Trafficking *BY PATC Las Vegas, NV 

MAY 

1-5 Detective and New Criminal Investigator *BY PATC Rio Rancho, NM 

2-3 Managing the Property and Evidence Room *BY PATC Salina, KS 

2-4 Sexual Deviant Offenders *BY PATC Desloge, MO 

9-11 2023 North American Use of Force Symposium: Lessons Learned Scottsdale, AZ 

10-11 Basic Drug Investigation By LLRMI Geo, TX 

Send your calendar listings to: 

bluespdmag@gmail.com 


HONORING OUR FALLEN HEROES 

LIEUTENANT KRISTINA ZELL 

POLICE OFFICER BRANDON TSAI 

NIAGARA FALLS POLICE DEPARTMENT, NEW YORK 

END OF WATCH MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2022 

AGE: 47 TOUR: 22 YEARS BADGE: 17066 

Lieutenant Kristina Zell died from complications as a result of contracting COVID-19 in the line of duty. 

Lieutenant Zell had served with the Niagara Falls Police Department for over 22 years and was assigned to the 

Criminal Investigation Division. She had previously served with the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force. 

She is survived by her parents and two brothers. 

Lieutenant Zell was posthumously promoted to Lieutenant. 

GRAND PRAIRIE POLICE DEPARTMENT, TEXAS 


AGE: 32 TOUR: 6 YEARS BADGE: Cook 659 

Police Officer Brandon Tsai was killed in a vehicle crash while pursuing a vehicle with a fraudulent temporary tag at 

about 10:45 pm.The vehicle fled when Officer Tsai attempted to stop it at the intersection of SW 3rd Street and 

Pioneer Parkway. Officer Tsai and another officer pursued the vehicle for approximately five miles until it slowed 

suddenly to turn. Officer Tsai’s patrol car made contact with the patrol car in front of him as they both attempted 

to slow down as well. The impact caused Officer Tsai’s patrol car to turn on its side and strike a utility pole. Officer 

Tsai was transported to Methodist Dallas Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries 

Officer Tsai had served with the Grand Prairie Police Department for 11 months and had previously served with the 

Los Angeles Police Department, California, for five years. 

86 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE The MAGAZINE BLUES 87


MARINE INTERDICTION AGENT MICHEL O. MACEDA 

POLICE OFFICER JORDAN JACKSON 

CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION - AIR & MARINE 

END OF WATCH THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2022 

AGE: 44 TOUR: 7 YEARS BADGE: N/A 

Marine Interdiction Agent Michel Maceda was shot and killed during a maritime narcotics interdiction operation 

approximately 12 miles southwest of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. He and two other Marine Interdiction Agents 

intercepted a vessel they believed to be transporting narcotics. One of the occupants of the vessel opened 

fire on the agents as they began to board it. All three agents and both subjects were shot during the ensuing 

shootout. Over 1,300 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from the boat the agents were attempting to 

board and a second boat that was interdicted nearby. 

Agent Maceda had served with the United States Customs and Border Protection - Air and Marine Operations 

for seven years. 

BELLEVUE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON 


AGE: 34 TOUR: 4 YEARS BADGE: NA 

Police Officer Jordan Jackson was killed in a motorcycle crash in the 500 block of Bellevue Way SE. He was traveling 

northbound when a vehicle pulled out of a parking lot and into his path, causing a collision. He was transported 

to Harborview Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries several hours later. 

Officer Jackson had served with the Bellevue Police Department for 4-1/2 years and was assigned to the Motor 

Unit. He had previously served as an EMT and as a volunteer with the King County Sheriff’s Office Search and 

Rescue Unit. He is survived by his wife and children. 

88 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE The MAGAZINE BLUES 89


DEPUTY SHERIFF CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR 

SERGEANT FRANK GUALDINO 

CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, FLORIDA 

END OF WATCH TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2022 

AGE: 30 TOUR: N/A BADGE: N/A 

IDeputy Sheriff Christopher Taylor was struck and killed by a drunk driver while conducting a traffic stop on 

I-75, south of US-17, at about 8:45 pm. He was standing on the shoulder of the highway with the person he 

had stopped when the driver of an approaching vehicle lost control of her car and struck Deputy Taylor’s patrol 

car. The patrol car was pushed into Deputy Taylor and the person he had stopped. Deputy Taylor was transported 

to ShorePoint Health where he succumbed to his injuries. The other person who was struck suffered 

minor injuries. 

Deputy Taylor had served with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office for 15 months. He is survived by his parents 

and fiancée.. 

YONKERS POLICE DEPARTMENT, NEW YORK 

END OF WATCH THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2022 

AGE: 53 TOUR: 24 YEARS BADGE: N/A 

Sergeant Frank Gualdino was killed in a vehicle crash on Tuckahoe Road at 3:30 pm. He was driving westbound 

when an oncoming vehicle lost control and collided with his unmarked vehicle and a transit bus. Sergeant Gualdino 

was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The bus driver and passengers were 

treated for minor injuries. The 16-year-old unlicensed driver who caused the crash was transported to a hospital in 

critical condition. 

Sergeant Gualdino had served with the Yonkers Police Department for 24 years and was due to retire in August 

2023. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and son. 

90 

90 The 

The BLUES 

BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE 

The 

MAGAZINE BLUES 91 

91

The Best of the Best 

The very first War Story I heard 

in the academy, goes like this. A 

Texas Trooper was about to head to 

the house when a major accident 

dropped with possible fatalities. 

When he arrived, an evening shift 

unit said he’d work the wreck and 

the fatality, if he would just direct 

traffic. 

Well, “just direct traffic” sounds 

like the better deal for sure, but 

closing a main thoroughfare will no 

doubt result in the usual idiots who 

stop in the middle of the street and 

ask one of the following: 

“What’s going on officer? Is the 

road closed?” 

Nope I’m just standing here in the 

rain for the hell of it. Yes, the road is 

closed. Follow the car ahead of you. 

“But Officer I HAVE to go this way 

to get home. I don’t know any other 

way.” 

Just follow the car ahead of you. 

20 minutes later…. “Officer, I followed 

those cars, but they didn’t go 

to my house. Where do I do now?” 

See that parking lot, just go wait 

there. (For about 8 hours) 

“What’s going on officer? Anyone 

get hurt?” 

NOPE, we always land a helicopter 

in the middle of the road, he’s 

bringing us lunch. 

Finally, a family of six packed in a 

SUV, will all the windows down and 

kids hanging out every everywhere, 

stopped in the middle of the road… 

“OMG did anyone get hurt? 

The trooper standing next to a 

sheet over a severed head, reached 

down, grabbed the head by the 

scalp, blood dripping everywhere, 

held it up and said, “well this one 

got banged up a bit !!” 

The SUV went full speed into the 

night with all the kids screaming 

and crying. 

Now I’ve had all of the above and 

more happen while directing traffic. 

But the severed head is a bit much, 

but the instructor swore it was the 

honest to Gods truth. Uh Huh. 

• • • 

Then there was the Sgt that 

screamed on the radio that his 

house was on fire, resulting in no 

less than a half dozen fire departments 

showing up, only to find out 

it was steam coming off the roof, 

not smoke. His neighbors were very 

helpful and had nearly all his furniture 

on the lawn before the Fire 

Chief halted crews from punching a 

hole in his roof. Idiot. 

• • • 

Let’s not forget about the airplane 

pilot who claimed a guy fell out of 

a Cessna 152 while doing maneuvers, 

when in fact the fellow committed 

suicide and jumped. NO, he 

didn’t make it. There was a BIG hole 

in a pasture where he landed with 

cows standing guard. 

• • • 

Or the town that defunded their 

police force during a city council 

meeting and afterwards ,loaded 

into a church van to celebrate at the 

local Applebee’s. Unfortunately, they 

were broadsided by an 18-wheeler 

and ended up rolling into a creek 

some 200 feet off the roadway. 

Luckily, one of the town’s cops 

rolled up on the scene and pulled 

every one of them out just before 

the van exploded. Realizing they had 

made a BIG mistake; they held an 

emergency council meeting at the 

hospital and voted to reinstate the 

cops. 

• • • 

Finally, we’ve taken the liberty to 

reprint two of the best War Story 

and Aftermath’s we’ve ever published. 

Both involved officers that 

felt they had reached the end of 

their ropes, and both were ready 

to say goodbye to this world. Both 

had intervention and both lived to 

tell their stories. If you ever get in 

a position where you feel you’re at 

the end of your rope, please call the 

First Responder helpline at: 833- 

367-4689 


BY LT. BOB EVANS 

The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t 

The following story is true. 

No names were changed 

because no innocent people 

were involved. 

My story takes place on 

Christmas Eve many years ago. 

I had been a cop for more than 

30 years and was a Lieutenant 

assigned to nights. With all 

the time I had in I could have 

been on days with weekends 

off and pushing paper all day, 

but I’d spent my entire life on 

the street. 

It was where I felt more 

comfortable. It was my 

home, I guess. My kids were 

all grown, and I had 4 failed 

marriages behind me. Yeah, 

I could retire but I had absolutely 

nothing to retire to. The 

streets were my home, and I 

couldn’t see myself anywhere 

else….working or otherwise. 

Hell, if I weren’t a cop, I’d 

probably be homeless living 

on the streets. 

But despite my acceptance of 

being here forever, the weeks 

leading up to the night of this 

story were what seemed like 

the beginning of the end for 

me. Sounds confusing, I know, 

but let me start from the beginning. 

It was early December in 

the late 80’s. Like I said I was 

the lieutenant assigned to 

nights and in our department 

the nightshift lieutenant was 

pretty much the night sheriff. I 

oversaw everybody and everything. 

But I had been doing 

it so long that it really didn’t 

seem like that big of a deal 

anymore. 

But more of all the ole heads 

were retiring and every day I 

had more and more youngsters 

showing up at roll call. 

The sheriff decided that to fill 

vacancies he would accept 

lateral transfers from other 

departments. Since we paid 

more than the surrounding 

departments these kids (actually 

young men and women 

in their late 20’s) came over 

in droves. Everyday there was 

someone new and of course 

they all came to nights. 

The latest transfer was this 

young man from a PD up 

north. A real go getter. Reminded 

me of me at that age. 

His name was Randy Jones. 

Jones was married and had 

just had a brand-new baby 

girl. Wasn’t even 3 weeks old. 

The boy posted pictures of 

that girl all over the station. 

He was the proud papa for 

sure. 

But he was from a PD, and 

this was the sheriff’s department. 

We did things differently 

and Jones had his own idea 

about how it ‘should’ be done. 

I had to sit that boy down 

several times during those first 

few weeks and just say look, 

‘If you want to stay here and 

be successful you must follow 

the book. Otherwise, I’m going 

to have to talk to the sheriff 

and send you back to the 

PD.” Broke my heart because 

he was really a good kid just 

stubborn. Reminded me when 

I started. The dayshift sergeant 

moved him to days for 

a week, just to teach him OUR 

ways. 

Now here it was Christmas 

Eve and Jones was back 

working the nightshift with 

me again. 

Anyway, it was about 3am 

when a silent alarm dropped 

in a warehouse on the 

northside of the district. I was 

only a couple blocks away and 

Jones must have been sitting 

in the parking lot because he 

advised he was about to go 

out on it. I advised dispatch I 

was backing him up and was 

a couple minutes out. 

Jones arrived and advised 

he had an open rear door, as 

I was pulling up to the rear. 

We agreed we would clear 

across the bare concrete. 

Unit 204 I have shots fired 

and two suspects down. I 

need EMS and backup. 

Where is Jones? “Jones?” 

“Unit 204 to Jones, where are 

you? 

“Jones where the fuck are 

you? I began running all over 

the warehouse to see where 

he was and as soon as I 

turned a corner, there he was. 

Laying in a pool of blood. 

“Officer down, officer down, 

Unit 204 I have an officer 

down.” 

Jones? As soon as I knelt 

down, I could see that a round 

had hit him in the neck and 

struck an artery. He had bled 

out in seconds. The first round 

those assholes fired went right 

through the thin partition wall 

and hit him. He was down 

within seconds of us enter- 

the building starting towards 

the right and work our way 

to the front. This was one of 

those flex space warehouses 

with storage on the back and 

offices in the front and they 

weren’t really that large. As 

soon as we stepped inside, 

we heard movement near the 

front. Other than our flashlights, 

it was pitch black in the 

damn place. Suddenly a bright 

piercing light following by a 

deafening boom appeared in 

front of us…. we were taking 

fire from multiple locations. 

I was literally firing into the 

dark. I just kept firing in the 

direction of the muzzle blast 

until there weren’t anymore. I 

stood there in the dark, shining 

my flashlight to see what 

or who was there and 20 feet 

away I saw two bodies on the 

ground, blood now running 



ing that room. He never said a 

word. He didn’t get a chance 

to fire a single shot. 

Somehow by the grace of 

God, I hit both the suspects in 

the dark and they both went 

down as well. I was the lone 

survivor. That’s a term I would 

hear over and over again. 

Within seconds, I heard 

deputies arriving from all 

over. Sirens. I could hear sirens 

everywhere. Sirens echoing 

throughout the building. The 

scene was just so surreal. 

Dust. Red and blue lights 

bouncing off the walls. Blood 

running across the bare concrete 

floors. Bodies motionless 

on the floor. And this young 

deputy at my side. I just sat 

there and waited for the EMTs. 

“Lieutenant…Lieutenant… 

Lieutenant….?” 

“What??” 

“Sir you need to get up and 

let them work on Jones.” 

I stood up and watched the 

EMTs from the firehouse squad 

that was just blocks from 

here begin working on him, 

but they stopped really before 

they started. There was 

nothing they could do. He was 

gone. 

I notified dispatch to send 

me detectives, crime scene 

and notify the sheriff. 

But I WAS the night sheriff, 

and I knew what I had to do. It 

was my job to notify the next 

of kin, spouses or parents of 

any deputy killed in the line 

of duty. In my 30+ years, I had 

only had to do it once. But 

this was different. This young 

man was dead on my watch. 

Standing 10 feet from me. It 

was my responsibility to keep 

him safe and I failed. I failed 

him, his wife, and his baby girl. 

The truth is, I shouldn’t have 

left the scene. I had just shot 

and killed two suspects. I had 

a dead deputy on the ground 

20 feet from the dead crooks. 

The DA shoot team would 

be enroute and so would 

the sheriff. Maybe the sheriff 

should go to Jones’ and make 

the notification? 

Nope. It was my job and my 

job alone, I had to do what I 

had to do. Without realizing it, 

I had pulled off the highway 

and pulled up under an old 

railroad crossing underpass. 

I was trembling and crying 

uncontrollably. It was at that 

moment that I felt like my life 

had ended. A young man was 

dead because of me. I was his 

supervisor; his backup and he 

was dead. I was old and at the 

end of my career and he was 

just getting started. It should 

be me on that floor. God got 

this wrong. I should be dead. I 

should be dead. 

I found myself under that 

bridge, with my gun in my 

hand. I was praying that God 

would forgive me for everything 

that happened that night 

and what I was about to do. 

It was at that instant I heard a 

voice say, “Mister are you ok?” 

I turned around and standing 

there before me was this 

young couple holding a baby. 

“What? Where did you two 

come from? What are you doing 

down here?” 

“We have no other place 

to be. We lost our home in a 

fire and we’ve been camping 

under this bridge for a while 

now. What are you doing here 

officer? Are we in trouble? Are 

you hurt? You’re bleeding!” 

“No, you’re not in trouble. I 

just needed a minute to think. 

I guess I ended up here. And 

it’s not my blood.” 

“Officer, maybe you should 

sit down a minute. Let us get 

you something hot to drink, 

it’s freezing out here.” 

As I sat down with them 

under that bridge, I saw this 

young couple that had to be 

about the same age as Jones 

and his wife. Here they were 

on Christmas Eve living in 

a tent under a bridge comforting 

ME. Making ME take a 

minute. I listened to their story 

and how they ended up there 

and when the young man 

finished his story, he looked at 

me and said, now tell us how 

you ended up here …. with us. 

For the next few minutes, I 

shared what had transpired 

that evening. That I was on 

my way to tell a young mother 

and wife, her husband 

wasn’t coming home. And I 

guess I stopped to gather my 

thoughts and ended up here. 

I didn’t tell them I was seconds 

away from ending my 

own life. I thanked them for 

their kindness and asked them 

if I could take them to a shelter 

and they declined. They 

said they were happy to be 

together, be safe under that 

bridge, and knew God would 

keep them safe until they 

could find a new home. 

I left them there and drove 

to Jones’ house. As I pulled 

up the sheriff was just pulling 

up as well. I walked up to 

him, and he hugged me said, 

“You know you shouldn’t be 

here. You have about a dozen 

detectives and DA shoot team 

looking for your ass.” 

“Yes sir, I know. But this is 

my job too, and he died on my 

watch. Under my command.” 

“Bob. I know. Let’s do this 

together.” 

The next few days were a 

blur. The following week we 

buried Deputy Jones. After the 

funeral, I drove to that underpass 

to make sure my young 

new friends were ok, but the 

tent was gone and so were 

they. I guess God found them 

that new home. As I was turning 

around under the bridge, I 

saw something where the tent 

had been. I got out of my car 

and picked up a cross that had 

been formed from branches 

and twigs. It had a red ribbon 

tied around it and a small 

piece of dirty paper tied to the 

top with the words: 

On this spot God saved us 

from ourselves and gave us a 

new beginning. 


A Cop, Flight Nurse and Two Endings 

I just read your feature story 

“the Christmas that almost 

wasn’t” and it brought me back 

almost 23 years when I had 

nearly the same experience. 

I too had lost a partner who 

was standing less than five feet 

from me when a sniper’s bullet 

ripped through his vest and 

killed him instantly. It was the 

single worst moment of my life. 

The emotions from that day still 

haunt me but thankfully I’ve been 

able to move past it and have a 

somewhat normal life. 

It wasn’t Christmas Eve but 

rather New Year’s Eve 1999. Yes, 

the new millennium was upon 

us, and we expected it to be a 

busy night. I had been on the 

force at the time for nearly 20 

years and worked the night 

shift by choice. My kids were all 

grown, and I was at the end of 

a third failed marriage. Working 

nights for me was my way of 

coping with the emptiness I had 

in my life at the time. 

On this night and for the previous 

30 days, I had a rookie riding 

with me after his FTO was injured 

in an off-duty car accident. 

And truthfully, I didn’t mind. After 

20 years of riding by myself I 

kind of enjoyed the company and 

I also liked the idea of imparting 

my knowledge into this young 

officer’s mind. 

But the FTO program of 1999 

isn’t like what you probably have 

today. It wasn’t that regimented, 

it was more like, ‘ride with 

me kid and I’ll show you how it’s 

done’ kind of thing. But this kid, I 

say kid he was 24, was actually 

doing a great job. He had spent 

almost 4 months on the evening 

shift with his FTO and was about 

to be cut loose. So, thirty days 

with me and he was ready to go 

solo. I’ll dispense with his last 

name in case his family might 

read this magazine and just use 

his first name Randy. 

On the night of the shooting, 

Randy and I were answering 

one disturbance after another. 

As you can imagine on this New 

Years, everyone was drunk and 

getting rowdy. One by one we 

were clearing calls. I guess after 

the 10th one or so, we became 

complacent and weren’t paying 

as much attention as we should 

have been. 

We were dispatched to a call 

on our city’s far east side that 

was on the extreme east side of 

our assigned district. But all the 

district cars on that side were 

tied up and we took the call to 

help them out. Same call as all 

the rest. Neighbor called in to 

report loud noises, fireworks and 

unknown persons possibly firing 

guns into the air. More people 

are killed on New Years from 

falling bullets than any other day 

of the year. 

We arrived at the complainant’s 

house and didn’t see 

activity outside nor did we hear 

any fireworks or guns being 

discharged. As we walked to the 

front door, a man in his fifties 

opened the door and began 

telling us about the neighbors 

across the street and how they 

had been outside earlier and 

were firing guns into the air and 

raising all kinds of hell. 

It was at that moment that a 

single gunshot rang out and Randy 

fell forward onto the man’s 

porch. I grabbed him by his vest 

and drug him behind a car that 

was parked in the driveway less 

than twenty feet away. I yelled at 

the man to go back inside and go 

to the back of the house. 

“Unit 10E50 shots fired, officer 

down, officer down, I need backup 

and EMS NOW…. NO send me 

Care Flight he’s not breathing” 

“All units assist the officer, officer 

down, I repeat officer down 

at 103 East Third, all units Code 3 

Officer Down.” 

“Unit 10E50 Care Flight has 

been dispatched” 

In the seconds, maybe minutes 

following that first shot, 

the suspect fired several more 

rounds towards us hitting the car 

we were behind as well as the 

sides of the complainant’s house. 

It was surreal in that you could 

hear the rounds hitting near us 

and seconds later you heard the 

rifle shot. I fired several shots 

towards the suspect, but he was 

over 50 yards away and it was 

pointless to keep firing. I focused 

my attention on trying to stop 

Randy’s bleeding and trying CPR. 

But the rounds kept ricocheting 

off the concrete and unless 

I moved into a better position, I 

was going to take a round myself. 

I heard the sirens in the distance 

and knew help would be 

here soon. But we had to survive 

NOW. 

I fired two more rounds towards 

the house and dragged 

Randy farther up the driveway 

to another vehicle parked beside 

the house. Seconds later units 

started arriving and the suspect 

fired several rounds at their cars. 

Then he ran in the house and that 

was the last I saw of him and the 

end of the shooting. He barricaded 

himself in the house and after 

a 4-hour standoff with SWAT, 

shot himself in the head. 

Care Flight arrived and they 

worked on Randy all the way 

to hospital, but I knew he was 

gone. I had rode in the helicopter 

with him and was there when 

his wife arrived. She and I had 

met a few days prior at a Christmas 

luncheon, and she ran up to 

me in the ER. I didn’t realize it, 

but I was covered in blood, and 

said I’m so sorry but they did everything 

they could. I’m sooooo 

sorry. She fell to the floor, and I 

sat on the floor holding her. My 

life, her life, would never be the 

same. 


It was late afternoon before I 

finally got a ride home. My house 

was as empty as my heart. My 

kids had all gone back to their 

respective homes in other states. 

I was alone with my thoughts 

and sense of failure. Here was 

this rookie counting on me and 

he was dead. Because I didn’t do 

my job of protecting him. I was 

ready to give up. It wasn’t the 

first time I had thought about 

ending my life but today was 

different. The thought of attending 

another funeral, having 

everyone look at me with glaring 

eyes thinking ‘he’s responsible 

for Randy’s death’ was more than 

I could bare. 

I had my gun in my hand. No 

notes. No final goodbyes. Just 

ready to end it. Then the doorbell 

rang. At first, I sat in the dark and 

hoped whoever it was would go 

away. But they kept ringing and 

knocking and calling my name. 

I didn’t recognize the voice, but 

it was obviously a female. So, I 

put the gun down and opened 

the door. It was the Flight Nurse 

from Care Flight. 

“What are you doing here 

Amy?” 

“I knew you would need someone 

to be with. I have been 

where you are dozens of times 

in the past year. Officers gunned 

down, involved in accidents or 

whatever and I couldn’t save 

them no matter how hard I tried. 

So, I know what you’re going 

through, and I knew I had to 

come see you. Can I come in?” 

We sat and talked for hours. 

She held me and I held her. She 

cried and I cried, and we cried 

together. Not only did we spend 

that New Year’s Day together, 

but we’ve also spent 20 more 

after that. Amy and I have been 

married for 20 years. She saved 

my life. Now we are both retired 

and travel the country. If 

this story changes just one life, 

saves just one officer from taking 

his or her life, then recounting 

my story was worth it. 

I’ve left my name off the 

email. Who I am isn’t important, 

my story is. I hope you’ll 

run it in your magazine to make 

a difference in someone else’s 

life. 

LE AGENCIES 

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THE OPEN ROAD 

by Michael Barron 

Best Side-by-Side UTVs: 

14 Kickass Rides for 2022 

Are you ready to boost over 

sand dunes, peel through mud, 

and explore some of the world’s 

toughest trails? Looking for 

an easier way to get into the 

backcountry, or just feed your 

friends a face full of dirt? 

Sounds like you need seat time 

in side-by-side UTVs, the ultimate 

outdoor vehicles. 

The only hard part is sussing 

out the best sport side-bysides—there 

are a ton of great 

models to choose from. To 

guide your search, we’ve rounded 

up our favorite side-by-side 

UTVs of 2022. Any of these fourwheeled 

beasts will satisfy 

your off-road appetite. These 

offroad vehicles offer plenty of 

ground clearance and throttle 

response when mudding—plus 

some even offer Ride Command, 

an integrated in-vehicle communication 

system so you can 

speak to passengers without 

getting drowned out. 

1. POLARIS RZR PRO R ULTIMATE 

As far as halo products go, look 

no further than the 74” wide 

open-stance RZR Pro R Ultimate. 

Sure, you’ll pony up 

roughly the price of a 

new Jaguar XF, but 

instead of driving 

your luxury 

midsize to the 

town bingo 

hall, you’ll 

be powering 

through 

trails in Polaris’ 

high performing desert 

and dune master. A 2.0-liter, 

four-cylinder, 16-valve engine 

delivers 225 horsepower and 

features a naturally aspirated 

design for cooler temps and improved 

reliability. It also comes 

with Dynamix DV advanced suspension 

control with modes for 

Rock, Comfort, Track, and Baja— 

all controlled via a glove-friend- 

ly seven-inch touchscreen 

display. Want to crank some 

music? A Rockford Fosgate 

high-output system ensures 

that everyone will hear you. To 

really amp up the mean look, 

get yours in Stealth Black. 

[Starting at $40,699; rzr.polaris.com] 

2. KAWASAKI TERYX KRX 1000 ES 

Kawasaki didn’t mess around (except in the dirt, mud, 

rocks, and dunes) when it developed the new Teryx 

KRX 1000 eS. It comes with upgrades like shift-onthe-fly 

electronic four-wheel drive and a locking front 

differential, continuously variable transmission with 

centrifugal clutch, and the brand’s own electronically 

controlled suspension. It’s powered by a 999cc 

liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine for performance 

that’ll really blow your hair back. 

[Starting at $32,199; kawasaki.com] 

3. ZFORCE 950 H.O. SPORT 

4. POLARIS RZR XP 1000 

Polaris claims the RZR XP 1000 Sport is the 

industry’s best-selling performance side-byside 

UTV. It certainly has plenty of oomph: 

Owners can enjoy 110 horsepower from a 999cc 

twin-cylinder engine. Rocks, roots, sand, and 

mud are no match for this rig’s 20 inches of 

usable suspension travel and Walker Evans 

Needle Shocks. Instrumentation combines 

analog dials with a four-inch LCD Rider 

Information Center. The head-turning 

Indy Red colorway (shown above) 

comes with the Premium model. 

[Starting at $21,899; rzr.polaris.com] 

The ZFORCE 950 H.O. Sport side-by-side from CFMO- 

TO is built to handle the rocky trails you crave without 

devouring your paycheck. A 963cc V-twin delivers 

90 horsepower, and the Quadlink rear suspension 

includes adjustable gas shocks and multi-link 

trailing arms to tackle any obstacle. Added 

perks like a multifunction color TFT display, 

3,000-pound winch, and electronic throttle 

control and steering make this a bargain UTV 

that doesn’t compromise. 

[Starting at $13,999; cfmotousa.com] 


5. CAN-AM MAVERICK X3 X RS TURBO RR 72 

The Can-Am Maverick X3 lineup includes several versions 

suited to your local terrain: RC for rock, MR for 

mud, RS for dunes, and DS for desert. The X package 

gets you exclusive graphics, seats, top-of-the-line 

suspension, and other features. The Turbo RR’s come 

in 64- and 72-inch width options and are built with 

a 200-horsepower Rotax ACE Turbo RR engine. 

Keep one thing in mind: With this powerful turbocharged 

mill, objects in the mirror are likely 

farther away than they appear. 

(Starting at $20,499; can-am.brp.com] 

8. YAMAHA YXZ1000R XT-R 

With its Warn winch, Special Edition 

paint with color-matched wheels, and 

998cc inline-triple engine, the YXZ1000R 

XT-R is a stylish and high-spec standout 

among side-by-side UTVs. Added bonus: 

Nothing beats the feeling of blasting 

through the gears with Yamaha’s Sport 

Shift paddle-operated manual transmission. 

[Starting at $23,299; yamahamotorsports. 

com] 

6. HISUN STRIKE 1000R 

The value-oriented Hisun Strike 1000R is built around a 976cc 

V-twin motor, and it’s paired with a CVT with two-wheeldrive 

and four-wheel-drive modes and a locking rear differential 

for extra traction when you need it. In the cockpit, 

you get an analog display (with a tachometer) and an 

LCD display for additional information. Better yet, a 

3,500-pound winch comes standard. 

[Starting at $14,599; hisunmotors.com] 

9. ARCTIC CAT WILDCAT XX 

The new Arctic Cat Wildcat XX SE can handle 

just about any terrain thanks to its beefy 

130-horsepower engine, CVT, and premium 

Fox 2.5 Podium Qs3 shocks. It comes with 

a shift-on-the-fly four-wheel-drive system 

and a locking front differential for maximum 

grip when the trail gets gnarly. And if you get 

stuck, you’re in luck: This cat comes with a 

3,500-pound winch to pull yourself out of 

sticky situations. 

[Starting at $22,999; arcticcat.txtsv.com] 

7. SEGWAY VILLAIN SX10 H 

Segway has come a long way since its original twowheeled 

personal transporter arrived on the market two 

decades ago. The new Villain SX10 H brings maximum 

performance with maximum tech that should give its 

driver plenty of confidence for exploring. A 1000cc, fourstroke, 

twin-cylinder DOHC motor creates 195 horsepower, 

and a unique hybrid powertrain allows the Villain to 

deliver instant torque. Villain’s Smart Commanding 

System (SCS) connects with an app and an onboard 

touchscreen to display real-time vehicle 

data and allow you to tweak the settings for 

different drivers, terrains, and conditions. 

7. Segway Villain SX10 H 

10. HONDA TALON 1000R SPECIAL EDITION 

You can’t go wrong with any model in Honda’s 1000R lineup, 

which includes the Talon 1000R, Talon 1000R Fox Live 

Valve, and the Special Edition. These sporty side-by-side 

UTVs come in both two- and four-seat versions, and they 

all share the same high-output 999cc engine, snappy 

dual-clutch automatic transmission, and Honda-exclusive 

i-4WD tech. The Special Edition 

gets the Fox Live Valve suspension along with 

additional popular accessories installed from 

the factory. 

[Starting at $26,099; powersports.honda. 

com] 

[Starting at $21,499; powersports.segway.com] 


11. HONDA PIONEER 1000- 

5This five-seat cruiser can fit the whole brood, 

and it should have no problem getting them 

around, either, with a 999cc engine. For 

additional safety, it includes debris-blocking 

side nets, and its traction control 

system uses the brakes to limit wheel 

spin for optimum traction (without 

the drawbacks of a locking diff). 

The comfortable cockpit is a big 

plus, too. 

13. YAMAHA WOLVERINE X2 850 R-SPEC 

This entry-level model has more than enough giddyap—thanks 

to a four-stroke 847cc engine—to 

clamber over rocks and debris, and its 8.7-inch 

front and 9.3-inch rear suspension will make 

doing so comfortable. The model measures 

62.2 inches wide and has an 83.7-inch 

wheelbase, so it’s compact enough to get 

deep into the woods. 

[Starting at $14,899; yamahamotorsports.com] 

[Starting at $18,099; powersports. 

honda.com] 

12. CAN-AM DEFENDER DPSHD10 

14. KAWASAKI MULE PRO-FXT RANCH EDITION 

This two-row, do-it-all workhorse 

has a 999-pound-capacity cargo 

bed and can tow up to a ton with 

its 812cc engine. It also has 10 inches 

of ground clearance, 26-inch 

tires, and 8.7 inches of suspension 

travel, and you can option it to 

seat up to six people, making 

it perfect for either ranch 

work or hauling folks 

around. 

[Starting at $20,299; 

kawasaki.com] 

Designed with hunters in mind, this camouflaged, 64-inch-wide beast can haul up to 2,500 

pounds—so it’ll have no problem with that Booner whitetail you’re going to tag this season. You 

can also option it with Kolpin gun cases, a winch, a full skid plate, and a portable LED spotlight, 

all of which will prove useful in the field, and its Rotax V-twin 976cc, 82-horsepower engine will 

make for easy uphill climbs. 

[$13,199; can-am.brp.com] 



A BADGE OF HONOR 

healing our heroes 

Thirty Minutes 

of Tactical Brain Tools 

By John Salerno 

Gearing up. What does this 

mean to you. 

Gun, Vest, Taser, Cuffs. Check! 

We all make sure that all 

our safety equipment we use 

each day is in proper working 

order. We wouldn’t go out on 

shift without our gun or vest, 

that would be crazy. The Boss 

wouldn’t allow such a thing to 

happen, they would stop you 

at the door! But, what about the 

most important piece of equipment? 

which is not located on 

your gun belt. 

Our Brain. If our brain is not 

properly working during the 

shift, it can be as deadly as 

going out without a vest or 

empty clip in our firearm. How 

many Bosses check your brain 

health prior to you going out on 

patrol? 

So, what does it look like 

when you are getting ready 

for a shift? It’s how you begin 

your day that plays a vital role 

in how the day will most likely 

end, and vice versa, how you 

end your day is how the next 

Day will begin. This cycle is 

critical in your career. 

Your days are full of stressful 

events, and you don’t need to 

add any extra baggage. 

Most of us start the day 

wrong! Rushing around, shoving 

an unhealthy breakfast down 

our throats, and speeding to 

work. This is because we stay 

up late, eat a late dinner and 

deal with all the stressors of 

our daily life. 

When we finally get to bed, 

we toss and turn before finally 

falling asleep. The reason for 

this is we didn’t fully decompress 

from shift or before bed. 

When we get home from a 

long day, we tend to follow the 

same patterns which for each 

person, may vary depending on 

lifestyle. 

We need to break some of 

the toxic habits which have 

become the norm in our lives. 

Taking a few steps each day 

will help in a longer and 

healthier career. 

First, our new day should 

start the night before. What 

does that mean? It means we 

need to adapt to any de-stressing 

activity which works best 

for you after we get off shift. 

This can include breathing exercises, 

a short walk, meditation 

yoga, anything to get your 

SAMANTHA HORWITZ & 

JOHN SALERNO 

mind out of a hypervigilance 

state, slow down the chemical 

dump and place it back into 

healthy balance 

Remember the 5 Ps 

Proper Planning Prevents 

Poor Performance 

Proper nutrition and a good 

night’s rest is a great place to 

start and will make a world of 

difference in how we react on 

our next shift. So how to we 

achieve this. 

Plan on at least 15-30 minutes 

of activity to get your 

mind back in balance. We cannot 

carry the weight of the day 

into the night. When our brain 

is full of the day’s activities. It 

places us in a state of Hypervigilance, 

causing disruption in 

sleeping and poor eating habits. 

Eating an early dinner will 

allow your body to properly 

digest before bed. 

To get a good night’s rest, all 

our bodies’ internal systems, 

which include our digestion, 

need to slow down. 

Prepare the night before. 

Make sure you have everything 

ready before you go to bed. 

Rushing around in the morning 

also places your brain into a 

hypervigilance state. 

It’s the little things we forget, 

like having gas in your car for 

the next day. If you are running 

late and must stop for gas, this 

leads to more unneeded stress. 

Turn off the gaming, social 

media, and news at least 2 

hours before bed. Gaming, social 

media and the news place 

your brain into further hypervigilance. 

Remember, although your 

body may not feel tired, your 

brain is exhausted. The motor 

is always at high RPMs after a 

shift. It has been making life 

and death decisions all day 

long, and it needs proper rest. 

When you wake up, stretch, 

bend, and loosen up. Drink a 

glass of water (Before Coffee) 

to rehydrate your body. Eat a 

light breakfast and do a slow 

10 seconds before you walk out 

to your car to begin your day. 

This will allow your brain to 

settle down and prepare. 

Our Bodies and Mind must be 

in top working order to perform 

at the best of our ability. 

Changing a few habits will 

help bring our body back into a 

healthier balance. You will see 

and feel noticeable change by 

just adjusting these few things. 

John Salerno 

Co-Founder -Badge of Honor 

Ret. NYPD Detective 

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DARYL LOTT 

daryl’s deliberations 

Christmas Time Perspective 

There was one Christmas that 

was different than all the others 

in our history. The Christmas 

of 1941 was the one that 

wins the dubious prize for sheer 

uncertainty and frightfulness. 

America had been mauled by 

Japan in a diabolical surprise 

attack at Pear Harbor on December 

7th—just 18 days before 

Christmas. The Philippines were 

under siege and it was all but 

certain that American forces 

were going to be captured by 

the notoriously cruel Japanese 

army. The Pacific Fleet was in 

disarray and the sunken and 

still smoking battleships sitting 

on the Hawaiian harbor 

sea bottom could not provide 

a quick response. The Atlantic 

fleet was being hammered 

by German U-boats in ocean 

battles that left merchant ships 

blazing within sight of coastal 

cities like New York and Boston. 

The indispensable life line of 

supplies between America and 

England was very much endangered. 

Many lives were being 

lost in the rough cold seas of 

the North Atlantic. 

In a bold move, Prime Minister 

Winston Churchill made 

the perilous sea journey from 

London to Washington in order 

to visit President Franklin D. 

Roosevelt. The men had talks 

regarding a common war strategy 

to defeat Germany and 

Japan. There was a feeling that 

the Christmas and New Year 

holidays should be cancelled. 

This was not as extreme as it 

might sound to our modern 

ears. The United States had to 

gear up wartime production 

in what was to be a fight with 

very powerful adversaries who 

wanted to destroy freedom 

around the world. We all know 

that the Christmas and New 

Year holidays may only be two 

days on the calendar, but those 

are normally “dead weeks” for 

most business and government 

operations. Many private and 

public sector executives did 

not want to lose those valuable 

weeks of initial productivity. 

England had already been 

at war for over two years and 

their production capacity was 

at 100%, but the British people 

were at the end of their rope. 

Anything that would delay the 

much needed supplies and 

support would cost British lives. 

American productivity had to 

be quickly geared up into overdrive. 

Lives depended on it. 

As Roosevelt pondered the 

unthinkable—cancelling Christmas, 

an executive spoke up. 

“The holiday isn’t for us. It’s to 

honor the Christ Child. It’s His 

holiday—not ours.” Exactly. 

Roosevelt ordered that federal 

holidays not be cancelled. In the 

longer term, the people would 

DARYL LOTT 

be energized by honoring God. 

On Christmas Eve, Roosevelt 

and Churchill addressed the 

freedom loving peoples of the 

world from the balcony of the 

White House. We would join 

the fight against evil until our 

last energy was spent. The men 

then ceremonially lit the White 

House Christmas tree. The 

brotherhood of free peoples 

would engage a ruthless and 

determined enemy. 

Roosevelt and Churchill saw 

a much needed opportunity to 

get our allied efforts off on the 

right foot. The notion that our 

countries needed each other 

was no longer simply a theory. 

In addition to the losses America 

suffered in the Pacific, the 

British were being handed some 

cruel defeats as well. “Fortress 

Singapore” was considered 

impregnable by sea invasion as 

it was on the southern tip of the 

Malay Peninsula. However, the 

Japanese figured if they could 

land much farther north, then 

their troops could, believe it 

or not, ride bicycles south and 

defeat the British army at Singapore. 

Japanese troop ships 

were dispatched to invade the 

Malay Peninsula and the soldiers 

inside would race their bicycles 

to the British back door. 

The British countered the move 

by sending a battleship, “HMS 

Prince of Wales”, and a cruiser, 

“HMS Repulse”, to destroy the 

Japanese troop ships at sea. 

These most powerful of British 

warships became the first capital 

ships in history sunk in the 

open ocean by aircraft alone. 

The British Empire was dealt a 

staggering blow that weighed 

heavily on the minds of Roosevelt 

and Churchill (both were 

Navy men at heart). What to do! 

The devastating losses that 

both nations suffered in December 

highlighted the reality that 

the war was going to be long 

and hard. Roosevelt and Churchill 

knew that the death toll 

would far exceed the 15 million 

of the Great War. They knew 

that “Happy New Year” was not 

going to be appropriate for the 

foreseeable future. They knew 

that the possibility of America 

and the British Empire losing 

the war was conceivable. Allied 

victory was not inevitable. 

What could they do to start this 

joint endeavor? 

Roosevelt and Churchill happened 

to be members of the 

same Protestant Church—the 

Church of England (as it is 

called in England) and the Episcopal 

Church (as it is called in 

America). The men reasoned, 

like George Washington before 

them, that anything they did 

without God’s Providential leadership 

would be fruitless. All 

of our citizens, young and old, 

black and white, healthy and infirm, 

Jew and Gentile, had to be 

engaged in the initial response. 

New Year’s Day 1942 would 

be, by Presidential Decree, a 

National Day of Prayer. The idea 

was simple, but genius. If the 

war was going to be an existential 

conflict between good 

and evil, then good people 

were going to have to pray. The 

prayer wasn’t the usual plea 

for forgiveness and remorse for 

failings. The prayer, according 

to the president and prime minister, 

was a prayer to make our 

nations worthy of being called 

good. Our nations had to ask 

God for his blessing of making 

us worthy to be on His side. 

The two leaders prepared 

themselves and went to George 

Washington’s own Anglican/ 

Episcopal church on the Day 

of Prayer. They sat down in the 

general’s own pew and got 

right with God. They asked their 

Heavenly Father to take their 

nations’ heartfelt responses 

to a monstrous evil and make 

them worthy to be called good. 

American and British citizens 

echoed the prayers of their 

respective leaders. Our parents 

and grandparents wanted to 

be counted as worthy to fight 

evil in the name of Goodness. 

They did not ask the Father to 

take the bitter cup of war from 

their lips; they only wanted 

to be worthy of the struggle. 

Perhaps that’s why they have 

been called the “Greatest Generation.” 

The Americans and 

the British would never forget 

the Christmas of 1941– it was 

fraught with anxiety. 

Perhaps in this time of anxious 

uncertainty, we should 

pray that we are worthy to help 

our neighbors in need. Maybe, 

just maybe, we should pray 

that we are worthy to give our 

neighbor a cup of water in His 

name. I believe that is what my 

grandparents did—and yours 

did, too. 

112 The BLUES The BLUES 113

NOT SO BRIGHT AWARD 

lig ht bul b award 

TWO DRUNK COPS 

One in Indiana, One in Florida, Two Wrecked Patrol Cars. 

Doug Rutoskey 

Well as we close out the year 

and present the final Lightbulb 

award, we find not one, but two 

candidates nominated for the 

prize. 

It seems two officers, both 

off-duty in two separate cities 

in different states, saw fit to get 

drunk and then go drive their 

patrol cars which both ended in 

crashes. 

Both officers were charged 

with operating a vehicle while 

intoxicated and leaving the scene 

of an accident 

FOX 59 reported that off-duty 

Stinesville (Ind.) Police Department 

reserve officer Doug Rutoskey, 

36, was arrested after his 

marked patrol car rear-ended 

another vehicle on the south side 

of Indianapolis. Rutoskey left the 

scene following the crash, but 

somehow his vehicle continued 

on without him, and came to a 

stop after hitting a construction 

barrier. Rutoskey was arrested 

on preliminary charges of operating 

a vehicle while intoxicated 

and leaving the scene of an 

accident. 

The incident happened around 

1:20 a.m. on Sunday Nov. 20th, 

near Southport Road and State 

Road 37. According to witnesses, 

a police cruiser rear-ended their 

car and then took off. IMPD confirmed 

a fully marked patrol vehicle 

was involved in the crash. 

Photos from the aftermath of 

the crash showed a police car 

with a smashed front end. 

The police report described the 

incident as a “hit-and-run crash 

involving [an] unknown agency 

police vehicle.” 

Further south, in the sunny 

state of Florida, off-duty Miami-Dade 

officer Leopold Louis, 

42, was also arrested after he 

crashed his marked patrol car 

into an unoccupied vehicle while 

driving drunk according to local 

TX station, Local 10 News . 

Louis was arrested in Hollywood 

early Sunday morning, 

November 21st after police said 

he was drunk behind the wheel 

of a marked patrol car. 

Officer Leopold Louis, 42, on 

Leopold Louis 

the force since 2017, was suspended 

with pay, according to 

Miami-Dade PD. 

According to the arrest report, 

Louis was involved in a hit-andrun 

crash at North 20th Avenue 

and Polk Street and officers later 

located him driving his patrol 

car on Federal Highway. 

In the report, Hollywood police 

Officer Carlos Diaz wrote that 

Louis smelled of alcohol, had 

watery, bloodshot eyes and was 

unable to maintain his balance. 

Louis said he did not realize 

he had been involved in a crash; 

Diaz wrote. 

“(Louis) continued to state his 

friend in the marked unit was 

waiting on him,” Diaz wrote. 

“The marked unit in the area was 

his.” 

Louis failed a battery of field 

sobriety tests and was taken into 

custody according to the report. 

He later consented to a breathalyzer 

test and had a blood-alcohol 

content of .223%, nearly 

three times the legal limit, it 

states. 

He faces charges of first-offense 

drunken driving, DUI with 

property damage and leaving the 

scene of a crash with an unattended 

vehicle or property. 

“This officer placed the public 

in danger in the same vehicle 

that the community has entrusted 

as a symbol of protection,” 

MDPD Director Alfredo “Freddy” 

Ramirez said in a statement to 

Local 10 News. “I will not tolerate 

any representative of the Miami-Dade 

Police Department to 

jeopardize the community’s trust. 

We will allow the Hollywood 

Police Department to conduct 

their investigation with complete 

transparency and have complete 

faith in the judicial process.” 

Louis was being held in the 

Broward Main Jail. 

Louis had nothing to say to 

Local 10 News after he bonded 

out Monday afternoon. I’m sure 

he didn’t. 

So, there you have it. The final 

Light Bulb Awards of 2022 given 

to two morons who thought it 

was OK to get drunk, get into 

marked units and crash then. 

Idiots. Have a wonderful Christmas 

and Happy New Year and 

guys, take an Uber when you get 

drunk. 

But whatever you do, don’t 

shoot at each other inside 

the Uber…oh wait, that’s next 

months award. Stay safe my 

friends. 


HONORING FALLEN HEREOS 

“Honoring our fallen heroes 

through running while providing 

financial support to the families 

of our fallen Heroes, 

First Responders injured in the 

Line of Duty and Safety 

Equipment to K9s in need.” 

AS OF 12/1/22 

Total Grants Awarded to Injured First Responders: 40 

Total Amount Awarded: $357,500 

Total Funds Awarded to Families of Fallen Heroes: 34 

Total Amount Awarded: $272,301 

Funds/Equipment Awarded to K9 Officers: $26,686.21 

Total Amount of Grants Given: $656,487.32 

- - - - 

2022 Run Tracker: 

Total Miles Run in 2022: (as of 12/3/22): 291 

- Zechariah - 255 

- Jayden - 9 

- Andrew - 8 

- Giuliana - 7 

- Anthony - 6 

- Morgan - 5 

- Theresa - 1 (59 for K9s) 

Total Miles Run in 2021: 327 



Overall Miles Run: 1,395 

Over Miles Run (K9’s): 59 

- - - - - - - - - - 

2022 Run Stats: 

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen LEO’s (Non COVID-19): 135 

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen Firefighters (Non COVID-19): 80 

Total Miles Run for Non-LODD/Suicide: 13 

Total Miles Run for 2022 Fallen Canada LEO’s: 3 

Total Miles Run in 2022 for Fallen COVID-19 Heroes: 18 

Total Miles Run for 2021 Fallen LEO’s: 21 

Total Miles Run for 2021 Fallen Firefighters: 2 

Total Tribute Runs by State/Country: 17 

Zechariah 

Cartledge: 

a True American Hero 

States/Cities Zechariah has run in: 

Florida - Winter Springs, Lake Mary, Clearwater, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Orlando, Temple Terrace, Blountstown, 

Cocoa, Lakeland, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach, Starke, Melbourne 

New York - New York City, Weedsport • Georgia - Cumming, Augusta, Savannah 

South Carolina - North Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Sumter • Pennsylvania - Monaca 

Illinois - Springfield, Naperville, Glen Ellyn • Texas - Houston (2), Fort Worth, Midland, New Braunfels, Freeport, Madisonville, 

Irving, Sadler, San Antonio • Kentucky - Nicholasville • Arkansas - Bryant, Hot Springs, Springdale, Prairie Grove 

Nevada - Henderson • Kansas - Overland Park • California - Mt. Vernon, La Jolla • Arizona - Mesa 

North Carolina - Concord, Raleigh • Virginia - Norton, Richmond • Tennessee - Bristol, Bartlett 

Oklahoma - Stilwell (2) • Delaware - Milford • Maryland - Towson • Minnesota - Arden Hills • Indiana - Sullivan, Spencer 

Mississippi - Grenada, Olive Branch • Missouri - Springfield, Rolla, Joplin • Iowa - Independence, Des Moines, Cedar Rapids 

District/Countries/Territories: 

Washington D.C. • Puerto Rico - San Juan 

116 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 

The BLUES 117


blue mental health 

Give Yourself the Gift of Hope 

This Holiday Season. 

Many of our nation’s law enforcement 

officers have had a 

challenging year in countless 

ways. The 2022 statistics for 

line of duty deaths (especially 

by gunfire) and suicides in this 

field are staggering and can be 

overwhelming. The holidays are 

also often a difficult time for LEO 

families due to work schedules, 

family conflict, financial constraints, 

and at times, a sense of 

helplessness due to depression 

and lack of hope. We also live in 

a world in which comparison of 

our lives to others is commonplace 

and frequently perpetuated 

by social media and high 

expectations for the “perfect” 

holiday experience. It can place 

a great deal of unnecessary 

pressure on an LE family during 

an already stressful time of the 

year. 

Instead of this month’s article 

focusing solely on the negative, I 

want to instead offer the gift of 

hope through some basic approaches 

that are designed to 

reduce psychological stressors 

and increase hope for the holiday 

season. Amy Morgan, (Police1, 

2019), offered the following 

excellent suggestions and I encourage 

to practice these often. 

1. STOP COMPARING. If you 

find yourself comparing your 

holiday with others, stop and 

focus on what matters to you, 

and then let that be enough. Be 

content with where you are, 

who you are and what you have. 

If you are financially stressed, 

don’t worsen the situation by 

giving gifts to try to match the 

actions of others. Instead, give of 

yourself and work with what you 

have, but don’t deplete yourself 

in the process or let comparisons 

make you feel unworthy. 

2. SET REALISTIC EXPECTA- 

TIONS. All the hype around the 

holidays makes us feel like we 

should ramp up our energy, our 

home décor, our financial ability, 

our time with friends and family, 

and even our level of happiness. 

Instead set your expectations 

in line with the reality of your 

own little piece of the world. If 

you aren’t a cook, don’t expect 

to present your family with a 

golden holiday turkey and all the 

fixings. Set realistic expectations 

about how your own holiday 

will, and should, look, for your 

own life. 

3. LET GO OF REGRET. Maybe 

this wasn’t your best year. 

If there’s something in your life 

you wish was different, and you 

still have the ability to change it, 

start working on doing that. But 

if you can’t change something, 

try letting go of the feeling of 

regret that’s eating away at you. 


If you need to apologize to someone, 

do it, genuinely and sincerely. 

If you need to forgive someone, 

do it, for your own sense of 

peace. And then move on. Let go 

of the regrets so you can start 

the New Year free of stress and 

anxiety. 

4. ACCEPT YOUR STRUGGLES. 

Life is hard sometimes, and nobody 

is getting through it as easily 

as they may make it seem. Things 

may be hard for you for many 

reasons – it is okay to admit that 

things aren’t great. Accept that all 

of us struggle at different points 

in life with different things. Don’t 

let the season make you focus on 

the struggles – remember that 

this season and its challenges will 

pass. 

5. SET NEW YEAR GOALS. 

Instead of pressure-filled resolutions, 

set some goals. But 

don’t set your expectations so 

high you’ll never be able to follow 

through. Name a few simple 

things you’d like to be different 

in your life – and then outline a 

plan to achieve that change. This 

year practice healthy approaches 

and do what you need to do. If 

you’re feeling down, depressed, 

or alone, please reach out to 

any number of law enforcement 

mental health resources and 

you’ll find a caring voice at the 

other end of the line to help you 

make it through the hard stuff. 

The holiday season, just like your 

life, is what you make it. Celebrate 

the holiday for the reasons 

you choose, in the way that fits 

you and your life, and make the 

very best of it that you can with 

click or scan here, 

for your FREE BLUES 

Subscription. 

whatever you have to work with. 

6. TAKE THE TIME TO EXER- 

CISE. You do not have to jump 

right into crossfit if you have 

not exercised regularly but get 

out for at least a brisk walk and 

break a sweat. You will feel and 

think better. You can also do this 

a couple of times a week, and 

invite your spouse, partner, and/ 

or children to walk with you to 

enjoy family time. 

7. GIVE BACK TO OTHERS. A 

local FOP hosts an “adopt a LE 

retiree or survivor” each holiday 

and encourages others to take 

them to lunch or provide a gift 

card or simply give the gift of 

“presence”. There are numerous 

charities and opportunities 

available this time of year, including 

for children. Giving to 

others allows a mental shift of 

perspective away from our own 

struggles toward better understanding 

and connecting with 

others. Remember, we rise by 

lifting others. Most importantly, 

practice hope, even a little very 

day. Happy holidays and Merry 

Christmas to you all, blessings 

always. 

The Leader In Law Enforcement Recruitment 

Delivering ZERO COST solutions to 

Texas Public Safety Agencies. 


Elk Hunting in a Colorado Snowstorm 

November is one of my favorite 

times of the year because it 

represents fall, cool weather, 

and the start of big game hunting 

season. This year I met one of my 

sons, Austin, up at our cabin in the 

mountains of Northern Colorado 

for elk rifle season #2. If you are 

not familiar with Colorado elk 

seasons, they are typically one 

weeklong, (except for bow season 

which is almost a full month), so 

you really have to make the most 

of your week. This year was going 

be exceptionally difficult for my 

son as he was only able to make 

it up for a Weds-Saturday hunt. 

No worries I thought, I will go up 

early and scout our usual hunting 

areas of our land and the national 

forest behind our cabin and make 

us a good plan for the time we 

had to hunt together. I had been 

watching the weather forecasts 

and it looked perfect. We should 

have slight snow on the ground 

when I get there and we will have 

more snow coming in, which usually 

really gets the elk moving and 

fresh power to track the animals. 

Three days before my son arrived, 

I got to our cabin and just 

as I thought, we had about 4-6 

inches of snow on the ground. I 

unpacked our gear and went out 

in the woods for an evening hunt. 

Within 20 minutes into my hike in 

the national forest lands, I started 

seeing fresh elk sign. Lots of elk 

sign, fresh tracks and fresh droppings. 

I was getting pretty excited 

when I approached the first of our 

many favorite hunting areas, the 

elk sign was even more abundant. 

New plan, I thought to myself. I 

am not going to continue to scout 

this area, the elk are here, and I 

don’t want to give them a reason 

to leave. My plan was to quietly 

slip in and hunt the front edge of 

this area until my son arrives and 

hopefully get an elk even before 

he arrives. 

That first afternoon scout was a 

fairly short one as I am not going 

to lie, it was during the World 

Series, and I really wanted to 

watch the Astros beat the Phillies. 

The next morning, I hiked 

into my stand well before daylight 

and watch the woods come alive 

with first light. However, no elk in 

sight and after three hours sitting 

in the freezing temperatures, this 

now Florida thin-blooded body 

was too cold to sit any longer, so I 

slipped out quietly. The afternoon 

hunt was a beautiful weather 

hunt as it warmed up, but no elk 

movement. 

For day three, I decided to 

not slip out into my spot in the 

dark but instead decided to wait 

until first light and still hunt to 

my stand. Within 10 minutes of 

moving very slowly through the 

woods and after climbing a small 

ridge, I spotted a cow elk about 

50 years away moving in my direction. 

I slowly dropped to the 

ground and realized I am completely 

exposed by the white snow 

and no cover between her and 

me. She didn’t see me and continued 

to eat on the dead grasses 

sticking up through the snow and 

I could see there were several 

more elk behind her. When she 

got about 25 yards in front of me, 

she did the funniest double-take 

and literally jump back 2 steps 

when she saw something that 

didn’t seem right, me. The wind 

was blowing into my face, so 

she couldn’t smell this thing she 

couldn’t identify and since I didn’t 

move, she starred at me for what 

seemed like 10 minutes trying to 

figure out what I was. When she 

finally couldn’t identify if this was 

a real threat or not, she decided 

to simply move on as two more 

cows had moved up to her and 

they too were waiting for her next 

move. Since I really couldn’t move 

during this stare down, I could 

now look back in the direction 

they came from, and I see a bigger 

elk coming my way and I can see 

antlers. I thought to myself, this 

is awesome! I am going to get a 

bull even before my son gets here 

and I can then focus on helping 

him get one. My heart was racing 

as he moved closer through the 

trees, and I could see now that he 

was only a spike bull, which is not 

a legal bull to take. So, I watched 

him take almost the same path 

as the cow and that brought him 

within 30 years in front of me. I 

kept hoping that there were more 

elk to follow as well but after 

waiting a good half hour, that 

was it, just a small group with 

three cows and one bull. I made 

it to the same stand I had hunted 

the night before, but nothing else 

moved past. That afternoon, I 

still hunted to the same stand on 

the edge of our hunting area but 

again despite all of the fresh sign, 

I didn’t see anything and headed 

to the airport to pick up Austin. I 

was thinking that tomorrow the 

snow should be moving in, and we 

could hunt some ground blinds I 

set up or could still hunt further 

into the forest and perhaps find 

other small groups or a big herd. 

That night the snow started and 

when we walked out the cabin a 

good hour plus before first light, 

it was snowing really hard. I left 

him at a ground blind I set up for 

him and I made it to my ground 

blind well before it started getting 

light. Our plan was to stay 

put for this first morning together 

and see if we can get some of the 

elk to come past one of us. The 

temperatures had dropped to the 

low 20s and it was hard to remain 

warm and still in this now 

blowing snowstorm. We met up 

after about 3.5 hours with nothing 

being seen and we noticed no 

fresh tracks in the new snow either. 

We hiked back to the cabin 

120 The BLUES The BLUES 121

SUPPORT THE OFFICER DOWN MEMORIAL PAGE 

VIA THE 2022 COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN 

HOW TO PLEDGE TO SUPPORT THE OFFICER DOWN MEMORIAL PAGE: 

1 

2 

3 

Go to the CFC website 

(scan this QR code for quick access) 

Search for the Officer Down 

Memorial Page / CFC # 62937 

Add us to your pledge basket – make sure to 

make your commitment before January 2023! 

to warm up, grab some lunch, and 

head back out. That afternoon it 

continued to snow, and we again 

didn’t see any movement and no 

fresh signs of any elk movement. 

Undiscouraged, we again went out 

the next morning, but I convinced 

Austin this time to wait until first 

light and still hunt to our stands. 

It was easy moving quietly in the 

fresh snow, but despite this advantage, 

we didn’t see any elk and 

again no fresh signs. We hunted 

hard all that day and covered a 

lot of ground looking for fresh 

tracks in the snow to guide us for 

the rest of our hunt. All day the 

snow continued to fall and now 

we were walking in sometimes 

knee-deep snow and despite covering 

more ground, no sign of any 

elk moving in the snowstorm. We 

gave it one more try the next day 

with the same result. So just like 

that, with one brutal snowstorm, 

my elk covered hunting grounds 

were eerily void of any animals, 

or at least it appeared. I don’t 

know if they were simply bedded 

down in the heavy dark timber or 

whether they truly moved down 

into lower elevations as we were 

hunting at almost 9,500 feet. Either 

way, our elk hunt did not end 

up the way we had hoped. 

While this year didn’t put any 

elk in the freezer, it did provide 

another great opportunity to 

experience the beauty of the 

Colorado mountains. Our land 

and the national forest that adjoins 

it, is a mix of mountainous 

terrain with creeks, ponds, and 

old growth aspen trees along 

with thick pockets of large fir 

and spruce trees that all together 

provide great food & cover for 

the deer, elk, moose, and black 

bear. Add several feet of snow 

and it makes for a beautiful 

escape for any hunter to experience, 

especially when he gets to 

do while creating memories with 

his son that will last a lifetime. 

November is still my favorite time 

of year, and I can’t wait until next 

year to try it again. 

The Officer Down Memorial Page is proud to announce our participation 

in OPM’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) program. If you are an 

employee of the Federal Government (including postal, military, and federal/ 

military retirees), your pledge though the CFC supports our mission to: 

• Honor and remember the nearly 26,000 law enforcement officers 

who have been killed in the line of duty since our nation’s founding 

• Generate over 200,000 letters to parole boards across the country 

to help deny parole to hundreds of convicted cop killers 

• Provide funding for the creation, restoration, or repair of memorials and 

grave markers honoring officers who have died in the line of duty 

• Recognize the contributions and sacrifices of our loyal K9 companions 

that serve on the front lines of our law enforcement efforts 

• And so much more... 

Learn more at ODMP.org/cfc 


ADS BACK IN THE DAY 

124 The BLUES The BLUES 125 


ADS BACK IN THE DAY 


THERE ARE NO WORDS 

parting shots... 

... pardon our humor 


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132 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 133

CAP Fleet is an emergency 

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Our sales staff brings 

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136 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 137

DANA SAFETY SUPPLY 

Dana Safety Supply (DSS) is a major warehousing distributor, 

seller, service provider, and installer of law enforcement 

and public safety fleet vehicle equipment including emergency 

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major distributor of law enforcement, tactical supplies, duty 

gear, firearms, ammunition, uniforms, and other public safety 

products. DSS operates 30 locations located in Greensboro, NC 

(2), Clinton, NC, Columbia, SC (2), Atlanta, GA, Marietta, GA, 

Preston, GA, DeLand, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Orlando, FL, Tampa, FL, 

Ft. Myers, FL, Ft. Walton Beach, FL, Miami, FL, Pompano Beach, 

FL, Tallahassee, FL, Livingston, MT, Memphis, TN, Nashville, TN, 

Little Rock, AR, Baton Rouge, LA, Alabaster, AL, Lorton, VA (also 

covering the Metro Washington D.C. area), Los Angeles, CA, 

Oklahoma City, OK, Houston, TX, La Feria, TX, Ft. Worth, TX and 

Austin, TX. 

DSS was founded in 2005 by a group of law enforcement and 

fleet professionals and has grown to become one of the largest 

companies of its type in the United States. DSS is a subsidiary 

of Duval Motor Company and the Scott McRae Group, (SMAG), a 

106 year old family company that has been in continuous operation, 

and under the same ownership since 1916. SMAG employs 

more than 700 people across multiple companies in the automotive, 

finance, and service industries. Each company operates 

independently, is its own legal entity, and is headed by its own 

President and management team, but has the financial resources 

and backing of SMAG at its disposal. DSS acquired Fleet 

Safety Equipment in 2018. Fleet Safety Equipment was founded 

in Memphis, TN in 1980 and is a wholly owned division of Dana 

Safety Supply. 

DSS regularly provides emergency vehicle equipment, installation 

services, and public safety products to numerous state, 

federal, and local public safety agencies, as well as to automotive 

dealers who utilize our up-fitting services and products. 

DSS holds and has successfully completed hundreds of large 

volume contracts with major public safety agencies throughout 

its territory to include Federal & State Agencies in CA, NC, SC, 

GA, FL, AL, TN, AR, OK, MS, LA, AR, TX, VA, and MT. DSS is also 

an approved contractor for the GSA and has a GSA contract for 

numerous public safety products and also for installation and 

upfitting services. 

Let us help your department with all your 

vehicle equipment and upfitting needs. 

Vehicle Equipment 

Vehicle Armoring 

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America's largest source for upfitting, 

installation, tactical gear and apparel. 

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Keep your Officers safe! 

Armored glass options available! 

138 The The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES 139

People are Your 

Purpose, and Ours 

In 2008, the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office 

was informed by the federal government that it 

was violating inmates’ civil rights because of its 

indirect supervision policy. Part of the requirement 

to remedy the violation was to hire 200 detention 

officers in addition to the 450 they already 

had. 

Instead, Captain David Baisden turned to Digi 

Security Systems for a technological solution. Together, 

we designed a system that would provide 

100 percent visibility in each of the 30 pods in the 

jail. Digi installed the system, and the impact was 

definitive. 

“All of a sudden, we noticed an immediate drop 

in altercations from 300 to 30,” said Captain Baisden. 

“Ninety percent of the violence was gone.” 

We have a saying around here that People Are 

Our Purpose. As a security systems integrator, 

the work we do is important: we design, install, 

and service commercial security systems for all 

kinds of organizations. Those very security systems 

are the technology that keeps our children 

safe in their classrooms, our police officers protected 

from wrongdoers, our business’ assets 

secure, and our communities free from the worry 

of violent threats. We design systems that maximize 

safety and limit the number of personnel 

and hours spent trying to identify and respond to 

incidents. 

It’s important work. It’s work that makes a real 

difference. And that work is just part of the Digi 

Difference that defines us. When an organization 

decides to partner with us, we become an 

extension of their team. Because we care deeply 

about the safety and security of the very people 

you care deeply about, we do whatever it takes to 

help you meet your goals while providing you the 

most exceptional experience possible. 

We serve and support law enforcement agencies 

across the region, including jails and city and 

county governments. We understand the unique 

needs you have in protecting your staff and the 

public. Learn more at digiss.com/government. 

Customized Security Solutions 

Government 

& Law Enforcement 

Keeping the peace and serving the public is a vital job for the health of a community. 

As your partner, we make technology your ally by providing you security solutions 

that are completely customized for your unique needs and budget. 

All-in-one solutions 

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE 

ACCESS CONTROL 

BODY-WORN CAMERAS 

COVID-19 RESPONSE 

INTRUSION ALARM & MONITORING 

CLOUD-BASED SECURITY SYSTEMS 

JAIL CONTROL SYSTEMS 

LICENSE PLATE RECOGNITION 

ANALYTICS & AI 

MASS NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS 

CONSULTING & DESIGN 

LOCKSMITH & KEYS 

SYSTEM INTEGRATION 

AND MORE 

SECURITY SYSTEMS 

Call today! 1-888-970-3830 

email contact@digiss.com 

We offer TIPS State Contract and HGAC! 

Digi knows law 

enforcement 

Reduce city crime & enhance public safety 

Search hours of footage in seconds 

Resolve incidents more quickly 

Monitor large crowds with analytics 

Gather real data for informed decisions 

Integrate systems to better communicate 

Limit the number of hostile environments 

digiss.com 

“Digi knows what 

they are doing. 

... All of a sudden 

we noticed an 

immediate drop in 

altercations from 

300 to 30. 

90% 

of the violence 

was gone.” 

Captain David Baisden 

Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office 

Experience the Digi Difference2 

Schedule your 

FREE Assessment, 

Demo & Quote 

digiss.com 


Key Management & 

Key Control Products 

All of our KeyWarden Security 

products are reliable, easy to use 

and expandable to meet your 

growing needs. 

Through seamless design, 

manufacturing and support, we 

have earned the reputation as 

the world leaders in security 

management products. We also 

write our own software to ensure 

system compatibility and performance. 

Every Morse Watchman’s 

product and system is meticulously 

designed and inspected to 

offer the latest in security technology 

and reliability. 

KEYWATCHER TOUCH 

KeyWatcher Touch brings one touch key 

control to the KeyWatcher, one of our industry-leading 

electronic key cabinets. Our 

new big, bright 7″ touch screen key register 

systems give you an easier-to-use interface. 

KEYWATCHER FLEET 

The industry’s only key control system for 

fleet management applications, KeyWatcher 

Fleet puts you in command of vehicle 

distribution, comprehensive utilization, 

right-sizing of your fleet and much more. 

THE KEYBANK 

The KeyBank® key control system eliminates 

outdated key boxes and the paper 

chase created by outdated manual logs and 

provides extensive protection from liability 

issues. 

KeyWatcher Illuminated 

KeyWatcher Illuminated is a modular, scalable 

integrated key control and management 

solution that’s designed for interoperability 

with access control and other 

systems. 

KEYBANK TOUCH 

Now get touchscreen convenience with 

KeyBank key access control system, the 

safer, more secure way to manage keys. The 

bright 7 touchscreen key organizer system 

gives you an easier-to-use interface. 

KeyWarden is the Texas distributor of Morse Watchmans industry-leading key and asset management systems. We are actively involved 

in the Texas Law Enforcement community as a founding member of the East Texas 100 club, and corporate members of the North Texas 

Police Chiefs Association, the East Texas Police Chiefs Association, the High Plains Police Chiefs Association, and the Central Texas Police 

Chiefs Association. We are proud to participate in the TEXAS SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICE CHIEFS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE. 

THE KEYWATCHER TOUCH SYSTEM is deployed in the law enforcement environment to: 

• Securely dispense track and audit the use of keys to: vehicles, facilities, lockers and 

other high-value assets. 

• Prevent unauthorized staff from driving specialist vehicles, or racking up miles on the 

newer fleet while older units sit idle. 

• Allow management to compel the use of vehicle pools rather than staff controlling the 

keys to particular units. 

• Quicker and more efficient shift changes. 

• Control the keys to facilities and mandate accountability. 

• Managing and controlling access to assets stored in lockers. 

As a Texas-based company, we provide on site evaluation, implementation, training and support of the 

KeyWatcher System. We are also a member of BuyBoard and offer discounted pricing and ease of purchase. 

19015 Gentle Knoll 

San Antonio, Texas 78258 

Office: 830-214-0867 Fax: 775-898-1807 

www.keywarden.com - click here to email us 


PLANET FORD IN SPRING, 20403 I45 NORTH, 

SPRING TEXAS 

Planet Ford on I-45 in Spring, Texas has been 

the No. 1 Ford Dealer in the greater-Houston area 

for over 20 years.* Our Ford dealership earns 

this distinction year after year because our team 

makes our clients and their vehicle needs our top 

priority. Planet Ford is part of the award-winning 

World Class Automotive Group. The dealership 

has earned many top honors, including multiple 

Triple Crowns, which is bestowed upon only 

the best. In order to be recognized, a dealership 

must receive all of Ford’s top awards, including 

The President’s Award for customer service. Planet 

Ford has been redesigned from the ground up 

to provide a superior customer experience. Planet 

offers over 30 acres of new Ford inventory, Certified 

Pre-Owned Fords, pre-owned vehicles of all 

makes and models, as well as aftermarket and 

performance parts, service, commercial truck 

services, and collision repair. Beyond automotive 

services, the Randall Reed family and Planet team 

support and gives back to the community, from 

local charity events to sponsoring schools and 

veteran programs. Learn more at PlanetFord.com. 



Supporting Law 

Enforcement in 

TEXAS 

Inset: Dan Rooney ProForce President 


800-367-5855 



SPOTLIGHT ON 

ProForce’s commitment to providing excellent customer 

service is a key element in the company’s success 

throughout the western United States. As a relative newcomer 

in the state of TEXAS ProForce has been welcomed with open 

arms by the law enforcement community. 

ProForce’s relationships with top industry manufacturers 

and vendors, as well as their sales volume, allows them 

to negotiate better pricing to meet the budgetary needs 

of law enforcement agencies. While some vendors may 

not always have product availability in a timely manner. 

ProForce’s industry relationships and direct contact through 

vendor representatives, the sales team is able to suggest 

and provide alternatives to meet specific requirements of 

agencies, ensuring that the agency’s needs are always met. 

“ 

Working with PROFORCE through the 

bidding and purchasing of the M&P 2.0’s was 

very easy and simple. We added the ACRO red 

dot along with the holster and the light. This 

purchase was simple and easy. 

The troops love the improvement to the 2.0 

and the red dot. 

Lt. Socha. Austin PD. 

“ 

#X300U-A #13353 #200691 

The company features an excellent selection of high demand 

law enforcement firearms, equipment and accessories from 

great manufacturers such as: 

Axon/Taser, Aimpoint, Beretta, Colt, H&K, Bola Wrap, 

Bianchi, Smith & Wesson, Eotech, Daniel Defense, 

NightStick, Sig Sauer, Kimber, Otis, Defense Technology, 

Shadow Systems, Magpul, L3 Harris, Burris, Mossberg, 

Ruger, Streamlight, Safariland, Springfield, Blackhawk, 

Holosun, Trijicon, Vortex, Surefire, Us Peacekeeper ,OSS, 

Nightstick, FNH USA and UTM. 

Proforce takes great pride in distributing high quality public 

safety products from top tier manufacturers and this 

transaction has set a trend for many other law enforcement 

agencies in the State of Texas. 

Agency demonstrations, test and evaluation 

of products is available upon request. Ask us 

about trade-ins! We will buy your agency duty or 

confiscated firearms, any model and condition! 

First class customer support and quality service 

makes PROFORCE the number one choice for first 

responder equipment and accessories! 

Call (800) 367-5855 

Email: sales@proforceonline.com or 

visit our website 

www.proforceonline.com 

SEND US AN EMAIL 

SCAN THE QR CODE 

Designed, engineered, and manufactured in 

America, and ready to perform whenever 

and wherever the need arises. SIG SAUER 

is combining industry-leading product 

innovation with decades of battle-tested 

experience to engineer the toughest, 

and most accurate pistols, rifles, optics, 

suppressors, and ammunition for the 

military and federal agencies. 


4807 KIRBY DRIVE • HOUSTON, TEXAS • 713-524-3801 

12722 HWY. 3 • WEBSTER, TEXAS • 281-488-5934 

AUTO FACELIFTS is located on the South Side of 

Houston across from Ellington Airport. Auto Facelifts 

is an industry leader in auto upholstery in the Houston, 

TX area. We work on cars, trucks, and even boats, 

so no matter what you’re riding in, we can give it a 

facelift! Whether you’re looking for a new leather interior, 

carpet replacement, or auto detailing, we’ve got 

a package that will fit your needs. But we don’t stop 

there! We’ve also got an incredible selection of car and 

truck accessories to really take your vehicle to the next 

level. And, if that’s not enough, we can also provide 

you with premium car audio and car stereo equipment 

that will make your vehicle the talk of the town. Stop 

into Auto Facelifts and upgrade your ride today! 

RIVER OAKS CHRYSLER, DODGE, JEEP & RAM 

Alan & Blake Helfman are the named and primary 

sponsor of The BLUES. For over 65 years the 

Helfman’s have supported local area law enforcement 

and supported The BLUES since our first issue. 

There is simply no better dealership in Houston 

to purchase your Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, 

Ram or Ford product. The sales team provide 

honest, no BS pricing and their service department 

ranks among the top in the nation. 

Call Alan or Blake Helfman at 713-524-3801 when 

you are ready to purchase your next vehicle. It will 

be the best car buying experience you’ve ever had. 

CENTRAL POLICE SUPPLY is your source 

for the best in police equipment. Based 

in Houston, we supply law enforcement 

with the equipment they need.” 

CENTRAL POLICE SUPPLY has been 

serving Houston law enforcement for 

nearly 50 years with the absolute best 

customer service and quality products. 

CENTRAL POLICE SUPPLY is 

located at 1410 Washington Ave, near 

downtown Houston, but you can 

purchase everything you need online 

at:https://www.centralpolice.com/ 


NOW HIRING 

LE job posit ions 

Tx. Comptroller Criminal Investigation (Odessa) Get Info State Police Officer 12/13/2022 - 5pm 

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Texas Department of Insurance Get Info Sergeant/Investigator (Lubbock) 12/17/2022 - 5pm 

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Johnson City Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 12/17/2022 - 5pm 

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Lindale Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer (3 positions) 12/19/2022 - 5pm 

Oak Ridge North Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officers 01/19/2023 - 5pm 

Office of the Inspector General - TJJD Get Info Corporal 12/22/2022 - 5pm 

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Colorado City Police Dept. Get Info (2) F/T Police Officer 01/02/2023 - 5pm 

Montgomery Co. Const. Pct. 3 Get Info Deputy 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Public Safety Trng. Specialist/ Police Officer Get Info Angelina College 01/02/2023 - 5pm 

Schleicher Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 12/08/2022 - 5pm 

Sachse Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer (certified) 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Sachse Police Dept. Get Info Police Recruit 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Lone Star College Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 01/02/2023 - 5pm 

Palo Pinto Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Transport Deputy 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

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Normangee ISD Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer (F/T & P/T) 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Trinity Valley Comm. College Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 11/28/2022 - 5pm 

Grimes Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Richardson Police Dept. 

Get Info Police Officer (Recruit & Lateral) 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Spring Branch ISD Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer (entrance exam) 12/09/2022 - 5pm 

Hemphill Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 12/02/2022 - 5pm 

Hemphill Police Dept. Get Info Peace Officer 12/09/2022 - 5pm 

Denver City Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 12/10/2022 - 5pm 

Grimes Co. Sheriffs Office Get Info Investigator 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Grey Forest Police Dept. Get Info Chief of Police 12/10/2022 - 5pm 

Blanco County Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy 01/13/2023 - 5pm 

Galena Park Police Department Get Info Police Officer 12/09/2022 - 5pm 

Normangee Police Department Get Info Police Officer 02/01/2023 - 5pm 

Natalia Police Department 

Get Info Reserve School Resource Officer 01/14/2023 - 5pm 

Corpus Christi ISD Police Department Get Info Police Officer 01/14/2023 - 5pm 

Leon Valley Police Department Get Info Patrol Officer 01/13/2023 - 5pm 

Bandera County Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 01/12/2023 - 5pm 

Real Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 12/14/2022 - 5pm 

Brady Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 12/14/2022 - 5pm 

Brady Police Dept. Get Info School Resource Officer 01/14/2023 - 5pm 

Bell County Constable’s Office Precinct 4 Get Info Deputy Constable 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Angelina County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 12/16/2022 - 5pm 

Plano Police Department Get Info Police Officer 12/04/2022 - 5pm 

Weatherford College Get Info Police Sergeant 12/04/2022 - 5pm 

Valley Mills Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Tarrant Co. College District Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 03/31/2023 - 5pm 

Waxahachie Police Department Get Info Police Patrol Officer 12/25/2022 - 11pm 

Garza County Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy 12/20/2022 - 5pm 

Lakeway Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 01/21/2023 - 5pm 

Floyd Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff (2) 01/16/2023 - 5pm 

Uvalde CISD Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 01/17/2023 - 5pm 

Wilmer Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 01/20/2023 - 5pm 

Hood Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Peace Officer 01/22/2023 - 5pm 

Copperas Cove Police Dept. Get Info Peace Officer 01/20/2023 - 5pm 

The Leader In Law Enforcement Recruitment 

Delivering ZERO COST solutions to 

Texas Public Safety Agencies. 


Hays Co. Const. Pct. 5 Get Info Deputy Constable 02/01/2023 - 5pm 

El Paso Comm. College Police Dept. Get Info Peace Officer 01/28/2023 - 5pm 

Katy Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Stanton Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Division 01/27/2023 - 5pm 

Haskell Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Patrol Deputy 01/28/2023 - 5pm 

Lockhart Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 12/07/2022 - 5pm 

Lockhart Police Dept. Get Info Police Chief 01/04/2023 - 5pm 

Cass Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 12/29/2022 - 5pm 

Leonard Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 01/28/2023 - 5pm 

Kleburg Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff 01/29/2023 - 5pm 

Deleon Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer 12/30/2022 - 5pm 

Log Cabin Police Dept. Get Info Peace Officer 12/28/2022 - 5pm 

Nolan Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Criminal Investigator 01/20/2023 - 5pm 

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North Richland Hills Police Dept. Get Info P/T Deputy City Marshal 01/01/2023 - 5pm 

Southwestern Baptist Police Dept. Get Info P/T Police Officer 01/31/2023 - 5pm 

Lower Colorado River Authority Get Info Ranger 01/01/2023 - 5pm 

Rollingwood Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 02/10/2023 - 5pm 

Harker Heights Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer Trainee 12/29/2022 - 5pm 

Irving Fire Dept. Get Info Fire Prevention Specialist 01/31/2023 - 5pm 

Austin Comm. College District Police Dept. Get Info Patrol Officer 12/16/2022 - 5pm 

Carrollton Police Dept. Get Info Police Officer Recruit 02/05/2023 - 5pm 

STATEWIDE VACANCIES FOR JAILERS 

Milam County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Jailer 12/04/2022 - 5pm 

Lee County Sheriff's Office Get Info Jailer 12/05/2022 - 5pm 

Smith County Sheriff's Office Get Info Detention Officer 12/17/2022 - 5pm 

Travis Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Corrections Officer 12/20/2022 - 5pm 

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Jones Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Jailer 02/01/2023 - 5pm 

Richardson Police Dept. Get Info Detention Officer 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Detention Officer 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Deputy Sheriff Detention Cadet 01/13/2023 - 5pm 

Plano Police Department Get Info Detention Officer 12/04/2022 - 5pm 

Garza County Sheriff's Office Get Info Jailer 12/20/2022 - 5pm 

Nolan Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Jailer (3 openings) 01/20/2023 - 5pm 

Place your department’s ad today for 

only $250 for an entire year. 

STATEWIDE VACANCIES TELECOMMUNICATION OPERATOR 

Walker County Public Safety Communications Get Info Telecommunicator 12/02/2022 - 5pm 

Hemphill County Sheriff's Office Get Info Telecommunicator/ Officer 12/09/2022 - 5pm 

Mount Belvieu Police Department Get Info Dispatcher 12/11/2022 - 5pm 

Collin Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Dispatcher 04/11/2023 - 5pm 

League City Police Dept. Get Info Telecommunicator 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Woodway Public Safety Dept. 

Get Info Public Safety Telecommunicator 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Galveston Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Telecommunicator 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Decatur Police Dept. Get Info Telecommunicator 12/16/2022 - 5pm 

Plano Public Safety Communications Dept. Get Info 911 Call Taker/ P-F-EMS Dispatcher12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Richardson Police Dept. Get Info 911 Dispatcher 01/08/2023 - 5pm 

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office Get Info Dispatcher 01/13/2023 - 5pm 

Angelina County Sheriff’s Office Get Info Telecommunicator 12/16/2022 - 5pm 

Upton Co. Sheriff's Office Get Info Dispatcher/ Telecommunicator 01/07/2023 - 5pm 

Katy Police Dept. Get Info Telecommunications/ 911 Disp. 12/31/2022 - 5pm 

Erath Co. Sheriff's Office 

Get Info Public Safety Telecommunicator 01/15/2022 - 5pm 




austin officers 

austin dispatch 


EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS 

• Paid Vacation 

• Sick Leave 

• Paid Holidays 

• Personal Days 

• Compensatory Days 

• Certification Pay 

ALDINE ISD POLICE DEPT. 

now accepting applications for: 

Dispatcher 

Salary starting at $40,000, 

no experience required. 

TO APPLY VISIT 

WWW.ALDINEISD.ORG 

OR 

Contact the Personnel 

Department at 

281-985-7571 

OR 

Contact Sergeant R. Hall at 

281-442-4923 

HIRING PROCESS 

• Oral Board Panel Interview 

• Complete Personal History Statement 

• Psychological Evaluation 

• Medical Examination 

• Interview with the Chief of Police 


BECOME A BAYTOWN 

PATROL OFFICER! 

STARTING PAY: 

$67,320/YEAR 

$1,500 SIGNING 

INCENTIVE! 

SALARY 

(YEARLY) 

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 

PAID LEAVE 

Probationary Patrol Officer $67,320 

5 Year Patrol Officer $81,073 

9 Year Patrol Officer $93,694 

Annual salary increases up to a max of 

$93,694 with longevity pay 

Modified Lateral Pay Scale for Peace 

Officers from time at immediately 

preceding Law Enforcement Agency 

CERTIFICATION PAY 

Intermediate PO Certification $92.08 

Advanced PO Certification $157.08 

Master's PO Certification $212.33 

RELOCATION 

(MONTHLY) 

Health Insurance 

Dental Insurance 

Vision Insurance 

Life Insurance 

Employee Wellness Center 

Training and Fitness Facility 

Retirement Plan (7% Mandatory with a 

2:1 match; 20 year retirement) 

457 Deferred Compensation Plan 

Tuition Assistance and Academy Tuition 

Reimbursement 

City Vehicle Program 

Uniforms/Equipment Provided with 

Annual Allowances 

15 Vacation days accrued per year 

(civil Service Status) 

10 City Holidays per year 

1 Personal day per year 

15 Sick days accrued per year 

15 days of Military Leave per year 

EDUCATION PAY 

Associates $50 

Bachelors $100 

Master $125 

SPECIALTY/ SKILL PAY 

(MONTHLY) 

(MONTHLY) 

Relocation Expenses Reimbursed 

Bilingual in Spanish $50 

WWW.BPDCAREERS.ORG 281-420-5354 281-420-6660 


For additional information please scan the QR code to go to our recruiting website!

October 15 

October 15 


Cuero Police Department 

Now Hiring for Patrol Officer Position 

Department Benefits 

13 Paid Holidays 

2 Weeks Paid Vacation 

Certification Pay 

100% Insurance Paid for Employees 

Retirement 2 to 1 match (20yr Retirement) 

FSA for Employees 

Longevity Pay 

Equipment & Uniforms Provided Including Duty Weapon w/ Red Dot Sight 

Take Home Vehicle Within City Limits 

10 Hour Work Shifts 

Membership Paid to Local Gym 

Department Provided Training 

Off-duty Security Opportunities 

Cell Phone Stipend 

Starting Pay Depends on Qualifications 

Requirements: Must be TCOLE Certified or currently enrolled in an accredited Police 

Academy and pass a background investigation. 


Email TCOLE Personal History Statement to sellis@cityofcuero.com

DEER PARK POLICE 

DEPARTMENT 

Deer Park, Texas 

WE ARE HIRING 

www.deerparktx.gov 

Police Officer 

Dispatcher 

Public Safety Attendant - Jailer 

Animal Control Officer 

Part time Crossing Guard 

Officer Sam Jammas 281-930-2121 or sjammas@deerparktx.org 


Forney ISD 

Police Department 

NOW 

HIRING 

Police Officers 

Description 

School-based police officers work 

with school administrators, security 

staff, and faculty to ensure the safety 

and well-being of students at various 

campuses. This officer works as the 

main security arm of a school. 

Experience 

SBLE Experience preferred 

Demonstrate the ability to 

teach & engage with youth 

Requirements 

U.S. Citizen 

Accredited High School Diploma 

or equivalent 

Valid Texas Peace Officer License 

Valid Texas Driver's License 

Two or more years of college or 

advanced training preferred 

Positions starting 

at $29.89/hr 

Retention Stipends 

Clothing Allowance 

Health/Childcare Incentive 

Paid Training 

Lateral Entry 

APPLY ONLINE TODAY! 

www.forneyisd.net 


GALVESTON 

COUNTY 

SHERIFF’S OFFICE 

Seeking Individuals Who Are Interested in a Rewarding Career in Corrections 

Begin Your Career Today! 

GALVESTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ESTABLISHMENT OF ELIGIBILITY 

APPLY TODAY AND BECOME A GALVESTON POLICE OFFICER 

Position: Corrections Deputy I 

Bureau/Division: Corrections/Jail 

Title/Rank: Corrections Deputy/Deputy I 

Reports to: Sergeant - Corrections 

Starting Salary: $47,715.20 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES 

Maintains the security of the facility by conducting security checks, settling disputes, and performing cell searches and 

inspections; conducts outside perimeter checks. 

Preparation and proper completion in the documentation of inmate records. 

Issues inmate meals, clothing, linens, and personal items. 

Supervise inmate programs (recreational, legal, health care, visitation and religious services) 

Prepares reports on jail and inmate activities, enforce inmate handbook rules. 

Supervises inmates performing such assignments as cleaning and maintaining the jail facility and continuously observe 

locations and activities of inmates. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS 

High School / GED Certificate and must be at least 18 years of age. 

Must be a U.S. Citizen and resident of the contiguous United States for a period of time sufficient to conduct a 

background investigation. 

Must be able to work days, nights, weekends, holidays and mandatory shifts when needed. 

Must be able to work during natural disasters and or under declarations. 

Must possess a valid Texas driver's license and an acceptable driving record as determined by the Galveston County 

Sheriff's Office in effect at the time of application. 

Must have favorable employment history. All information given regarding past employment will be thoroughly checked 

Must have a stable credit history. 

Must possess good computer skills and demonstrate comprehensive reading and comprehension skills. 

No conviction above a Class B Misdemeanor or a Class B misdemeanor within the last 10 years nor have been on or 

currently on court-ordered community supervision or probation for any criminal offense and no Family Violence 

convictions of any level. 

Applicant must pass all phases of the required testing. 

Must be eligible for licensing by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) for the position applied for, if not 

presently licensed. 

TO APPLY 

An applicant interested in any of GCSO position shall first download, complete and return 

the Application Packet, per the instructions on the downloadable form. 

The Application Packet can be found at SHERIFF.GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV 


JOIN US 

VISIT SHERIFF.GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV TO APPLY! 

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office is an Equal Opportunity Employer 

CONTACT US 

409.763.7585 : SO.EMPLOYMENT@GALVESTONCOUNTYTX.GOV


LATERAL DEPUTY 


WE ARE 

HIRING! 

BENEFITS 

• Free basic Medical, Dental and Vision insurance for 

employee 

• Free basic Life insurance 

• Long Term Disability (LTD) 

• Affordable Medical, Dental and Vision benefits for 

eligible family members 

• Flexible Spending Accounts 

• 10 paid holidays per year 

• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) including 10 vacation 

days and 13 sick days per year accrued biweekly 

RETIREMENT 

• Harris County matches your investment at 225% 

• 7% of your salary is invested pre-tax in your 

retirement account 

• Retirement Vesting after 8 years 

• Eligible upon earning 75 points (age+years of service) 

SALARY SCALE 

INCENTIVE PAY 

LATERAL DEPUTY 

REQUIREMENTS 

• Must be a licensed Peace Officer by the Texas Commission on Law 

Enforcement (TCOLE) in good standing 

• Must be currently employed as a first responder Peace Officer 

(any break in service will be discussed on a case-by-case basis) 

• Must have a minimum of 12 months of consecutive experience as 

a first responder Peace Officer at any one agency 

• Must successfully pass the Physical Abilities Test (PAT) obstacle 

course 

• Must pass a thorough background investigation (Criminal 

background check, fingerprinting, personal interview, etc.) as 

required by TCOLE 

• Must pass a physical and psychological evaluation as required by 

TCOLE 

• Valid Driver’s License (TX by start date) 

• Eyesight must be correctable to 20/20, normal color and 

peripheral vision 

• Correctable normal audible range in both ears 

• Firearms qualification 

For additional information contact Harris County Sheriff’s Office Recruitment Unit: (713) 877-5250 

Now Hiring 

OFFICERS 

TCOLE Certified Peace Officers 

Hutto ranked one of the 

safest cities in Texas. 

Our fast-growing City shows a trending decrease in crimes based 

on four offenses from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting. 

Additional Pay 

+ Education Pay up to $175/month 

+ Specialty/Certication up to $260/month 

Highlights 

Top-of-the-line Equipment 

and Technology 

Beards and Tattoos Allowed 

No Written Test for Most Lateral Officers 

Benets 

Retirement 

2-to-1 City match with TMRS 

Take-home Patrol Car 

For officers living within 25 miles 

Starting Salary 

$62K to $81K 

Annual Leave Accruals 

12 paid holidays, 80 hrs vacation, 96 hrs sick leave 

Multiple Positions Available 

A wide variety of units and assignments available 

CLASSIFICATION SERVICE HOURLY ANNUAL TCOLE CERTIFICATION ANNUAL 

DEPUTY I 0-47 $25.22 $52,458 

Intermediate $1,560 

Advanced $3,420 

DEPUTY II 48-83 $26.99 $56,139 

Master $6,000 

EDUCATION 

ANNUAL 

DEPUTY III 84-119 $28.59 $59,467 

Associate Degree $1,320 

DEPUTY IV 120-155 $30.03 $62,462 

Bachelor’s Degree $3,180 

Master/Doctorate $4,500 

TO APPLY 

DEPUTY V 156-191 $31.52 $65,562 

Questions? Email: PDrecruiting@huttotx.gov 

178 The BLUES 

Bilingual Program $1,800 

Harris County 

The BLUES 179 

Receive up to fourteen (14) years of credit for time served! (Restrictions apply) 

@HCSOTexas 

HCSOTexas HCSOTexas @HCSOTexas 

Tenure agreement required. 

SCAN THIS CODE 

Sheriff’s Office 

To learn more or apply, visit or scan 

https: //linktr. ee/huttopd 

Sign On Bonus! 

$5,000*

L A P O R T E 

P O L I C E D E P A R T M E N T 

Lateral Police Officer 

Starting Pay $ 62,416. to $73,775. 

Effective October 1, 2022 

No prior experience required. High School diploma or GED required. 

Possession of Class C Texas Driver License. 

Must possess a TCOLE License or be enrolled in accredited Basic Peace Officer Academy. 

Certification Pay (bi-weekly): 

$46.15 - Intermediate Peace Officer 

$69.23 - Advanced Peace Officer 

$92.31 - Master Peace Officer 

Education Pay (bi-weekly): 

$46.15 - Associates Degree 

$69.23 - Bachelors Degree 

$92.31 - Masters Degree 

Employee Benefits: 

Medical / Dental / Vision Insurance 

Longevity Pay 

Tuition Reimbursement 

TMRS Retirement (2 to 1 match) 

ICMA Deferred Compensation/Roth IRA 

$1,000 Physical Fitness Program 

Weapon Purchase Program 

Take-home Vehicles 

Specialized Divisions: 

SWAT / Bomb Squad 

Bike Patrol 

Criminal Investigative Division 

Crime Scene Unit 

Drone Pilots 

School Resource Officers 

Traffic/DOT Officers 

Police Area Representatives 

Apply online at 

www.laportetx.gov/jobs 

Paid Leave Benefits 

15 days vacation (Civil Service) 

15 days sick leave 

Military Leave 

9 observed holidays per year 

2 employee holidays per year 

Bereavement Leave 

Comp Time 


Welcome Mesquite PD 



Memorial Villages Police Department 

Bunker Hill • Piney Point• Hunters Creek 

Police Officer 

EOE/M/F/D 

5+ Years Patrol Experience Required 

The Memorial Villages Police Department (Located on the West Side of Houston) currently 

looking for experienced officers who are self- motivated, innovative, and enthusiastic about 

community policing. 

Starting Salary Range 

Effective Jan 2023 

Hiring Bonus $1500 

Night Shift Differential $3600 

ECA $1300 

Basic Peace Officer 

Starting $83,459 

Hiring Bonus $1500 

Night Shift Differential $3600 

Master Peace Officer 

ECA $1300 

Bi-Lingual 2.5% of base pay 

College up to $3000 (Masters) 

Up to $94,164 

Healthcare Insurance, DHMO Dental, Vision – 100% paid for employee, 75% Paid for 

spouse/dependents. 

Paid long-term disability and life insurance for employee, with additional life insurance 

available for spouse/dependents. 

Health Savings Account with departmental contributions up to $4200 annually 

TMRS Retirement 2 to 1 match, 7% Employee ,14% Employer Contribution, 20 Year Retirement 

457 Plan with employer contribution of 2.5% of annual salary 

Tuition reimbursement 

Longevity Pay up to a max of $2400 annually at 10 years of service. 

ECA (Emergency Care Assistant) $1300 Annually, training provided to each employee. 

12 hour shifts with every other Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. 

To learn more or apply, visit our website at www.mvpdtx.org 

Or contact Sgt. Owens 713-365-3711 or lowens@mvpdtx.org 

Or Commander E. Jones 713-365-3706 ejones@mvpdtx.org 

11981 Memorial Dr. Houston, Texas 77024 



MAKE A 

DIFFERENCE 

IN YOUR 

COMMUNITY 

We are looking for outstanding individuals to 

join our team! As a Pearland Police Officer your 

mission will be to prevent crime and disorder, build 

partnerships within the community, and positively 

impact the quality of life for all our residents. 

CITY OF PEARLAND, TEXAS 

• Competitive Salary • Outstanding Training 

• Career Advancement • Exceptional Benefits 

The City of Pearland is one of the fastest growing 

communities within the region. Pearland is located 

approximately 20 minutes south of Downtown Houston 

and the current population is approximately 130,000 

residents. 

JOIN OUR TEAM 

HIRING POLICE OFFICERS AND CADETS 

$5,000 Hiring Incentive for T.C.O.L.E Certified Police 

Officers who qualify with at least 2 years of experience. 

TEST DATE: 

SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 8:30 A.M. 

Register by: April 12. 

WATCH FOR UPCOMING 

Pearland Recreation Center & Natatorium 

4141 Bailey TEST Road, DATES Pearland, TX IN 77584. 2022 

Doors Open: 7:15 a.m. No admittance after 7:45 a.m. 

Candidates must park in the north parking lot. 

SOCIAL DISTANCING MEASURES WILL APPLY 

• Attendance limited to first 150 arrivals 

• Mandatory temperature checks 

• Masks required, hand sanitizer available 

• Candidates seated 6 feet apart 

190 The BLUES For additional information and to register for an upcoming Civil Service Exam, The BLUES visit 191 

pearlandtx.gov/PDCareers

pasadena 

isd 


PORT HOUSTON 

POLICE DEPARTMENT 

WE ARE 

HIRING 

SIGN UP TODAY! www.porthouston.com/careers-2 

BENEFITS: 

• Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance 

eligible first day of employment 

• Wellness Program 

(can earn up to $600 credit per year if requirements met) 

• Enrollment with Calm App for Wellbeing 

• Defined contribution plan (401a) 

– Employer Sponsored 

• Deferred Compensation Plan (457 Plan) 

– Employee Contributions 

• Vacation 

• Sick Leave 

• Paid Holiday 12 days/year 

• Life and Accidental Death and 

Dismemberment Insurance 

• Short Term and Long-Term Disability Benefits 

• Flexible spending account (FSA) 

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 

• Pet Insurance 

• Legal and Identity Theft Protection 

• Tuition Reimbursement 

Up to the IRS annual limit and a maximum lifetime 

reimbursement of $25,000 

• Onsite Credit Union – Port of Houston Credit Union 

Are you looking for a career with meaning? 

Do you want to make a difference in a highly 

supportive community? 

Join our team at Port Houston! 

STARTING PAY* 

$60,000 up to $71,000 

REQUIREMENTS 

• Must be 21 years old 

• Must have 2+ years of police officer 

experience 

• Must have valid Texas Driver’s License 

• Must be a U.S. Citizen 

• Must have an honorable discharge 

from the military (if applicable) 

• Must never have been convicted of a 

Class A Misdemeanor or above 

EMPLOYMENT 

TESTING 

Employment is contingent on passing 

any post-offer pre-employment 

screening as listed below: 

• Criminal background check 

• Motor Vehicle Record check 

• Drug screening 

• Physical exam 

• Psychological exam 

SCAN 

QR CODE 

TO APPLY 

• Not been convicted of a Class B 

• Additional as required 

* Salary depends on experience 

misdemeanor within the last 10 years 

• Must have a GED or high school diploma 



City of Wylie 

Police Department 

OFFICER SALARY RANGE: HIRING PROCESS: BENEFITS: 

Non Certified Police Recruit Pay : $62, 370.00 

YEARS OF SERVICE 

ANNUAL SALARY 

1 Year—Step 0 $66, 626.06 

2 Years—Step 1 $68, 291.71 

3 Years—Step 2 $69, 999.00 

4 Years—Step 3 $71, 748.98 

5 Years—Step 4 $73, 542.70 

6 Years—Step 5 $75, 381.27 

7 Years—Step 6 $77, 265.80 

8 Years—Step 7 $79, 197.45 

9 Years—Step 8 $81, 177.38 

10+Years—Step 9 $83, 206.82 

ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION: 

Certification Pay: Up to $1,800 annually 

Field Training Officer Pay: $2, 400 annually 

Bilingual Pay: $1 ,200 annually 

• Complete and submit a City of Wylie 

job application: https:// 

www.governmentjobs.com/careers/ 

wylietexas 

• Written Exam (exempt for Laterals) 

• Physical Agility Test 

• Complete and submit a Personal 

History Statement 

• Oral Board Panel Interview 

• Background Investigation 

• Police Chief Interview 

• Polygraph Examination 

• Psychological Evaluation 

• Medical Examination 

RECRUITING CONTACT: 

Wylie Police Department 

2000 North Hwy 78 

Wylie, TX 75098 

Sergeant Mark Johnson 

mark.johnson@wylietexas.gov 

972-429-8013 

• City Paid Medical/Dental/Vision 

• Texas Municipal Retirement System 

(TMRS) 14% City Contribution 

• Paid Time Off (Vacation and Sick Time) 

• City Paid Uniforms 

• City Paid Training 

• Life Insurance and AD&D 

• Long Term Disability Insurance 

• Employee Assistance Program 

• Longevity Pay 

• Tuition Reimbursement 

• Free Recreation Center Membership 

• Deferred Compensation Plan 

• Ancillary Benefits Available (Aflac, 

Avesis, and More) 

Thanks 

Welcome Aboard 

Hempstead Police Dept. & 

Brenham Police Department 

Humble ISD Police Dept. 

for placing your and recruiting the ads 

Washington The County BLUES. Sheriff’s Office 

Wylie Police Department Mission: Our mission is to impact the quality of life, by providing a professional 

level of service that will foster, support, and build relationships with those we serve. 

https://www.wylietexas.gov/police.php 


STARTING SALARY 

$56,160 $57,824 $60,008 $62,400 $64,792 $67,184 $69,680 $72,384 $74,880 $77,480 $80,080 

High School Diploma 

or G.E.D. 

Minimum age of 21 

Must hold a valid 

Texas Driver’s License 

Current valid TCOLE 

certification 

At Hire 

At 

6 mos. 

end 

year 1 

end 

year 2 

end 

year 3 

end 

year 4 

end 

year 5 

end 

year 6 

end 

year 7 

end 

year 8 

end 

year 9 

GET STARTED 

LOCATED 5 MILES WEST OF 

DOWNTOWN AUSTIN 

$3,000 


202 The BLUES

DEC 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 12

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