Calibre Press

Everyone knew that Denny Verna was afraid of the dark. He’s always been afraid of the dark from the day he was a little kid. While going through the police academy, Denny dreaded role play scenarios that took place at night or that involved building searches in dark rooms. He was so glad when the academy ended. But as luck would have it, he drew a slot on graveyards. “Man, if I can just get through this FTO phase without having to chase s... Full Article »

Undercover narcs are an odd bunch. Nobody gets ordered to do the kind of work they do. They apply for it, have to be interviewed, have their work backgrounds reviewed, and if they’re lucky get to spend countless hours away from their families, looking like something the cat dragged in, and then watching as the brass announce the great work the “agency” did with quantities upon quantities of drugs, money, and guns displayed on the TV news. ... Full Article »

Most Calibre readers know yours truly is retired from “the job.” As such, I find myself on the range on my own time and not as part of a quarterly training and qualification program. I recently reported to the range for my annual HR-218 firearms training and like most of us “old” guys found myself doing the bobble head nod between rounds: One moment focusing on my sights, the next looking down range at the target. I wish I had known about... Full Article »

Sonny Erickson was the most senior lieutenant on the PD. Not only was he the most senior, he was the most dignified of all the brass. “Diplomatically unapproachable” would be a good term to describe Lt. Sonny “Stuffed Shirt” Erickson. The wife of Sonny Erickson was equally dignified but even less approachable than her husband. Tommy McMann and Rocco Montana were probably the two biggest bruisers on the night shift. When not locking up di... Full Article »

[Publisher’s Note: Humor in Blue is a new column by Calibre Press alum Dave Grossi. Similar in style to his hilarious eight-part Lawyers I’ve Known series, these eight stories have been gleaned from the warped mind of Dave himself. The names of the players have been changed, the locations masked (somewhat), a few embellishments added here and there, and some of the characters, while real people, combined and/or merged for brevity’s sake. Al... Full Article »

In part one, we talked about policy statements, training, qualification, and agency registration for back-up weapons. But I suspect that most readers want to hear about the documented and verifiable instances where police lives were saved by back-up (or secondary) weapons. So that’s what follows. Back-Up Gun Saves California: A Fresno officer assigned to a high school is attacked, knocked down, and beaten with a baseball bat by a 6-foot, 250-... Full Article »

I’m frequently contacted by agencies, both here and abroad, to either evaluate or assist in the drafting of force policy statements. Recently, I was asked to provide some background on the issue of back-up (or secondary) weapons. This agency had for the most part done all their homework. They drafted the appropriate policy statements and covered the important issues, such as training, holsters, qualification, and periodic inspection. The Ivory... Full Article »

I’ve been out of operational law enforcement for almost 30 years. I formally pulled the pin in late 1990. Since then, I’ve maintained my professional affiliations through Calibre Press, Inc., as both a Street Survival Seminar instructor and contributor to their online magazine, CalibrePress.com. I also continued my professional contacts as a police instructor, court expert and part-time college C.J. teacher. But for all intents and purposes, ... Full Article »

Back in 1986, three health care professionals combined the terms litigation with phobia to coin the term “litigaphobia.” They came up with the term after researching and interviewing police officers over their fear of being sued. As they applied the term, it pertained to that fear being “so great” among some officers that it became a “preoccupation” that “interfered” with them doing their jobs. Now, 30 years later, the Pew Researc... Full Article »

I just returned from a swing across New York and Pennsylvania.  I had to venture up to the great northeast to take care of my annual H.R. 218 recertification at my former PD after which my wife and I stopped in to see the kids and kidlettes in Pennsylvania. While scanning the local newspaper, I came across a headline announcing a state prisoner, Joel Perez, age 42, was found guilty of a 2014 attack on a 45-year-old veteran CO, Francis Petroski. ... Full Article »

I am not an attorney. I don’t play one on TV, and this is not a legal brief.  As such, it should not be construed as legal advice. What it is, however, is a short piece intended to clear up all the hoopla surrounding the issues of “stop and frisk.” So as we approach the 53rd anniversary of the date that created the “stop and frisk” rule, let’s get some history. Here are the facts on the incident that gave birth to stop and frisk. B... Full Article »

There’s a folk song written by Pete Seeger and recorded by The Kingston Trio that hit it big in 1964. It’s called “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” The first verse ends with “young girls picked them, every one.” A little known factoid of your humble author is his hidden talent as a musician. Every now and then, I’ll dust off my old Martin acoustic and strum a few bars of my favorite tunes. I was thinking about that old Kingston Tr... Full Article »

My first exposure to Florida dates back to the winter of 1975. I was a physical crimes detective in upstate New York. Physical crime detectives investigate everything dealing with crimes against persons; assaults, murders, robberies, and so forth. We were investigating an armed robbery that occurred at a supermarket where the suspect fled the scene. After checking all the likely locations and coming up empty, we filed for a warrant and initiated ... Full Article »

Most tactical officers are probably familiar with the text Crisis Negotiations by Michael McManus and Wayman Mullins. That book is now in its fifth edition and has become a staple for crisis/hostage negotiations teams. One of my past tactical command instructors, Thomas Strentz, Ph.D. (FBI, ret.) penned two of the most often-quoted texts on the subject, the acclaimed Psychological Aspects of Crisis Negotiations and Hostage/Crisis Negotiations, 2... Full Article »

In Part One, we discussed the obligations and requirements for working as a consulting expert in matters of police litigation. In this second part, we’ll discuss some of the trials (pardon the pun) and tribulations of appearing in court as a testifying expert. Your Record, Examined When you author a report on a case, you for the most part have disclosed your identity to other side. And the vetting will now begin ... The other side will usual... Full Article »

The draft of this article has been sitting in my pending file for a few years. Since I’m about 98% retired from the expert industry, I figure now's the time. This is a two-part series. Part Uno will deal with the issues of being a consulting expert. Part Dos will cover all the facets of appearing in court as a testifying expert. How It Works First, every expert is initially hired as a consulting expert. Simply put, he or she is retained to r... Full Article »

Although relatively new, most cops have heard of the Black Lives Matter folks. Formed shortly after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who fatally shot Trayvon Martin in late February, 2012, in Sanford, Fla., they really came to the forefront after the Ferguson, Mo., incident where Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot Michael Brown when Brown attempted to disarm him. But very few law enforcement officers know the hist... Full Article »

The other night I was sitting out by the pool enjoying an iced coffee and indulging in my only remaining vice, a Rocky Patel Premium cigar (Connecticut Vintage, 1999), listening to the local “oldies-but-goodies” radio station. Suddenly, my mind came out of my usual vegetative state when a song by The Eagles came on: “Hotel California.” I’ve probably heard that song hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the course of the last 35 year... Full Article »

Author's Note: Most readers know that my past contributions to this series revolve around the humorous situations I’ve experienced with past attorney/clients. This will not be one of them. [caption id="attachment_6594" align="alignright" width="150"] A mug shot of Special Agent Art Gonzales.[/caption] I don’t testify a lot in criminal court. My testimonial history reveals I’ve appeared as an expert in criminal cases (federal and stat... Full Article »

Someone once said that the courtroom is a stage and all the players have a part. And if attorneys are the actors, then the jury must be the audience, and the judge the director. With that said, trials can be either tragedy or comedy. Certainly cases where a death has occurred must fall into the tragedy category. But those where no real injury has resulted, except for maybe a bruised ego, sometimes fall into the comedy column. Such a case occurre... Full Article »