Calibre Press

Two incidents the last few weeks regarding celebrity suicides—fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain—have brought the topic of suicide to light. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide rates for the overall population have climbed nearly 30% since 1999. Other reports show that incidents of suicide have increased in nearly every state since the late 1990s and suicide now claims about ... Full Article »

Thirty years ago this month (June), I lost one of my best buds. Most of our readers know that I spent a good portion of my days working undercover, initially as a “white” shield patrolman and finally as a “gold” shield detective. One of the guys I worked with was a top notch narc. Ron lived every aspect of the job during our time in deep cover. Deep cover is different than administrative narcotics (ad narc) or other vice narcotics assi... Full Article »

There’s no doubt that undercover work is exciting, if not dangerous. In fact, it’s the exciting part that makes UC work so addictive. One of the most unusual cases our task force team of UC narcs became involved in was a “murder for hire” investigation. [Note: In order to respect the privacy of not only the intended targets of this contract hit, the minor child it centered around, as well as the convicted subjects, I have masked the name... Full Article »

[Author’s Note: I recently became engaged in a lengthy discussion on the issues of contact and cover (C/C) with an officer from the Midwest. This officer had a pretty good grasp on the contact officers’ job, but didn’t quite understand the all important tactics and responsibilities of the cover officer. ... So I asked permission from the great folks at Law Officer.com to reprint an article authored by yours truly that originally appeared in... Full Article »

If you haven't already, click here to read Part One. Otherwise, we’re in the city, at the hotel, and all the advance work has been completed. Bob and I are dressed for work and ready to go. Day One 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. On Day One, we’d head down to the ball room at 5:30am and set up the AV equipment, and once again test all the equipment, cue up the film clips and audio tapes, and then head to breakfast. It was important to the com... Full Article »

The Calibre Press Street Survival Seminar continues to inform and inspire American law enforcement. Under the leadership of Jim Glennon, it has been transformed to reflect the realities affecting today’s officers. I highly recommend it, especially to newer officers. It provides the platform on which to build your career. But my personal, lived experience with Street Survival comes from a prior iteration. See, I was lead instructor from 1988 to... Full Article »

Most retired cops recognize the name T.J. Hooker. And many know who Bob Hindi is. If you don’t, just take a quick peek at your expandable baton. See that big rounded cap at the end of your stick. That’s the Hindi Baton Cap, invented by now-retired Las Vegas Metro PD officer Bob Hindi. [caption id="attachment_10448" align="alignright" width="273"] Bob Hindi, the real deal.[/caption] I’ve known Bob for 30 years. We’ve trained togethe... Full Article »

Every now and then I like to author a reality piece that our readers might enjoy. No real teaching point, just interesting cop stuff. (The last such piece was in April, 2016, “The Full-Moon Kidnapper & a Clerk Named Sue.”) This new article has to deal with the last case I worked as a Physical Crimes detective. It was New Year’s Eve. My partner, Ron, was taking some lost time and we were on our way to drop him off at home. I was then go... 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 »

[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 »

[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 »

Artie Belcher was two things: the best cop on the PD and the worst cop on the PD. Artie was a moralist. There was “right” and there was “wrong.” There was “justice,” and then there was “Artie’s Law.” The most important things to Artie (next to his back up gun) were his family: his wife, his two daughters and his one son. Artie’s sense of family values would make Dan Quayle blush. Men were men. Women were women, and little gi... Full Article »

Stop & Frisk: Legal Perspectives, Strategic Thinking, & Tactical Procedures is an excellent new book by Douglas R. Mitchell, JD, MPA, and Gregory J. Connor, MS, Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois Police Training Institute. In the interest of complete disclosure, I have known both authors for a long time. Doug Mitchell has been a friend, legal contact, and training associate of mine for well over 40 years. I’ve known t... Full Article »

A buddy sent me a recent news story on some innovative public relations work being done by the Clark County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office in Springfield during the week ending July 28. During their recent County Fair, the CCSO decided to set up a firearms training simulator in an annex building in order to permit interested patrons to experience the dynamics of police shootings. The idea was the brain child of Clark County Sheriff Deborah Burchett... Full Article »

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 »