Years ago, when I first began working as an adjunct instructor at a DPS Academy, I used to get up at zero dark thirty to join the recruits on their physical training run before instructing them on criminal law subjects. I thought it would serve my purposes in class to prove myself outside of class.

On one such run, cadence was led by a young, all-bone-muscle-and-sinew, ex-Army Ranger.

Cadence has a two-fold purpose.

• To physically regulate respiration • To ignite teamwork and camaraderie

I ran and sounded off after the ex-Army Ranger recruit, this cadence:

[WARNING: The following contains adult themes of sex and violence.]

When the girls want excitement and danger, Dream all night of sex with a Ranger. A Ranger’s what Granny wanted to be, But you can’t be a Ranger if you squat when you pee. If I die in guts and blood, Bury me with a six pack of Bud. Tell my son I did my best. Pin my Ranger wings on his chest.

Mysteriously, I was un-infused with team spirit. As was every female recruit — both of them.

I could have gotten my shorts in a twist, taken offense, even made some kind of complaint. Instead, the next morning I stepped out of formation.

“Sir, permission to lead cadence, Sir.”

“Granted,” the Corporal replied.

As we started off double-time, I called out:

I’m an Amazon with wildcat blood; I nursed on whiskey you can keep your Bud. My sex drive is rollin’ thunder; I don’t peak at nineteen and then go under. When I was a girl my Granny told me, Girl ain’t nothin’ you can’t be. I’m not the fastest — I’m not the strongest. Heart determines who lasts the longest. I got a heart that knows no end, Call on me when you need a friend. I may need you to get over the wall, ‘Cuz it’s all for one and one for all. We’re all on the hero’s quest, Gonna help each other be our best.

As the last voice died, I waited in a silence punctuated by heavy footfalls and heavier breathing. Then there rose a deep bass, testosterone-laced, forty-voiced reply, “Hoo-ah! Ma’am. Hoo-ah!”

I don’t run at 0430 with the recruits anymore. Age has relieved me of that particular need to prove myself. But the lessons that ex-Army Ranger taught me live on:

1.) Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don’t be quick to assume the worst. That young Ranger had put his life on the line for my freedoms. Don’t join The Society of the Perpetually Offended. They’ve got enough members. 2.) Faced with a challenge, don’t ask, “Why me?” That won’t get you any useful answers. Instead, ask, “What’s the lesson here for me?

The lesson for me was figure out how to connect with those recruits in a way that didn’t alienate them but instead opened their hearts and minds to some new visions of teamwork and camaraderie. I think we all learned something that day.

Please be advised that there’s a new illegally-produced synthetic drug floating around out there that can cause serious harm if you come into contact with it. The drug is called Desmethyl Fentanyl — a chemically-modified derivative of the powerful prescription painkiller Fentanyl — and is reportedly “40 times more potent than heroin and 80 times stronger than morphine.”

During an April raid that resulted in the seizure of bath salts, ecstasy, meth, speed, steroids, and other illicit drugs, four Montreal cops were made ill by apparently handling some amount of the seized Desmethyl Fentanyl.

“The seized Desmethyl Fentanyl was toxic enough to affect four police officers who were handling the drugs for analysis,” said a report by CBC News.

Inspector Marc Riopel of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) said that “even though they were wearing masks and gloves, still by being in contact with the product, they suffered from mild injuries. One of them had to hospitalized because of a heart condition.”

Coming to America Montreal police — the SPVM — said further they found sophisticated equipment used to produce industrial quantities of drugs. Apparently, one machine seized “was capable of producing at least one pill per second.”

SPVM released an image which shows the seized drugs bearing the typical copycat “branding” imprints — such as the Facebook logo, evident in the picture above and right — in an effort to market the drug to our kids.

If it’s not already in your own community (which probably is) you can be sure that this drug has almost certainly been successfully shipped to the United States.

According to the Montreal Gazette, two men attempted to ship 10,000 pills of Desmethyl Fentanyl — hidden inside a microwave oven and a toaster — to an address in Colorado.

The Montreal Gazette said further that during the last few months, the men had been regular customers of the UPS store where they were busted on April 25, and “always shipped the same items to various addresses in the United States.”

Stay safe out there my friends.

Recently I was speaking with Aaron Tomlinson, a police trainer at Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin. He gave me permission to share with you an analogy he uses to prepare his recruits to stay alert on the contacts they will make in their future career.

To paraphrase, Aaron tells them that the day-to-day contacts an officer makes on the street are much like the game of Bingo.

Each number called out is like a call for service answered, leading them toward “bingo” — the inevitable confrontation that lies ahead.

Poised Like a Panther He asks students if they have ever watched a 78 year old lady play Bingo. While fully engaged she sits on the edge of her chair poised like a panther ready to strike. As each number is called her eyes squint as they thoroughly scan each card she holds so as not to miss a number, attempting to stay one step ahead of her opponents.

This gray-haired granny knows that if she gets lackadaisical, zones out, or just plain snoozes she loses. She stays alert, and pays attention because the next number called might be a “Bingo!”

Bingo Ready No matter how proficient in professionally communicating with members of the public an officer becomes, the next physical confrontation lies irrevocably in the future for every police officer as “Bingo” is in every game of Bingo.

Ask yourself, “Am I bingo-ready throughout every contact? Am I at least as alert as a 78-year-old Grandma playing ‘Bingo’?”

You should be — your life depends on it.

Remember, confrontation for you is as inevitable on the street as “bingo” in the game of that same name. Unlike Bingo it is not a game that you are playing. Like Bingo, however there is no second place on the street.

You have to be — at all times — bingo-ready.

Got the message?

You did?

Bingo!

What can a 37-year-old journeyman baseball player teach law enforcers about “routine” events?

Yesterday, in the middle innings of an otherwise-meaningless spring training game, Marco Scutaro drew a two-out walk.

Yawn.

But things got interesting when he arrived at first and observed shortstop Gregorio Petit and second baseman Alexi Amarista not paying a whole lot of attention.

A sports talk radio guy I listen to described it as “two guys staring down at their shadows, spitting into their gloves.”

As soon Scutaro arrived at the first base bag, he beat feet to second and stole it easily.

I looked and looked, but couldn’t find video of yesterday’s play. Good thing Scutaro has been a smart ballplayer for a long time. I found footage of him doing the exact same thing in 2009 against the Phillies. Take a look...

Your browser does not support iframes.

We hear it all the time: “There’s no such thing as routine.”

But we all know that there are moments which are so frequently-repeated that they naturally lull a person into a false sense of security.

In every single profession there are certain things which happen — during which time, basically nothing happens. In baseball, there is probably nothing which better fist this description than when a pitcher issues a walk to a batter.

Yawn.

Then a veteran like Scutaro pulls a veteran move, and we all gasp, mouths agape, “WOW!”

Happily, no baseball player’s life will be imperiled by a momentary lapse of focus. But we can look at this video, and while also being entertained by it — baseball is, after all, entertainment — we can be reminded of the deadly consequences for police officers for just one instant of “taking your eye off the ball.”

“Routine” should be considered a four-letter word.

Don’t go staring at your shadow and spitting in your glove, lest some veteran violator pull a quick one on you before you even look back up.

In your DT training, do your drills start “as far to the left of an attack as possible”...or do you simply practice getting out of trouble you’re already in?

That provocative question was posed during an ILEETA class by trainer Tony Blauer of Blauer Tactical Systems in Encinitas, Calif. It’s his contention that DT sessions “too often start at the wrong point in an attack,” while a different starting point might prevent the problem in the first place.

Take weapon retention training, for example. Commonly, Blauer says, training drills begin with your opponent’s hand already on your gun; you’re expected to execute an “intense, dynamic technique” that defeats his grab and puts you safely in control. That’s certainly a valuable skill.

But Blauer argues that “every time you start by practicing how to get out of an offender’s dangerous move that has already occurred, you’re unconsciously training your brain to let an attack happen. You’re possibly predisposing yourself to a gun grab. The pursuit solely of technique alone is probably the single greatest hindrance to properly defending yourself.”

It’s better, he believes, to begin “to the left of” (that is, before) an assault with instruction and rehearsal on how to read pre-attack body language and other threat cues. “Training needs to include the prelude to an attack: when a disarming may be attempted, what tends to set it up, how a suspect initiates his move, and so on.”

That awareness, he says, will affect “how we stand, what we see, and how we move” in relation to a potential assailant before he or she can make physical contact.

“For instance, an offender can’t grab your gun without a ‘target glance’ at it,” Blauer says. “If you’re alert for a suspect eyeing your weapon, that can give you an edge. Don’t ignore it. Just moving your hip may discourage an attack.

“We want to get out of the way before an attack starts, or at least learn to intercept an assault before the assailant actually makes contact, whether he’s going for a gun grab, a headlock, a bear hug, or whatever. We need to be totally alive and athletically engaged from the outset when we’re dealing with any subject. We can’t afford to delay a response until an attacker has already gained an upper hand.”

In preparing your “human weapon system,” what’s the cost of “starting practice drills as far to the left of an attack as realistically possible?” Blauer asks.

“Zip!”

But what’s the cost of not moving the starting point in that direction?

“Possibly your life.”

As part of the package, Blauer stresses the importance of having every trainee play the bad-guy role during drills. “Understanding first-hand what a suspect has to do to attack is an epiphany,” he says. “It radically changes your perceptions.”

For more information, go to Blauer’s website: www.tonyblauer.com or call 877-773-2748.

Years ago, a colleague of mine asked me to define the word policing. I told him it meant law enforcement. Policing and law enforcement are synonymous. He challenged me to look it up.

Which I did, in my American Heritage Dictionary.

The definition I found surprised me. It might do the same for you...

Yesterday I posted a column in which I contrasted two different incidents — both taking place within the span of a few short hours on February 26, 2013 — on two different sides of the continent and with two completely different outcomes.

In one event, an alleged medical professional stood idly by and watched a woman die at the Glenwood Gardens independent living facility in while a 911 communicator named Tracey Halvorson desperately tried to intervene through the phone line.

“Is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?” Halvorson pleaded. “Can we flag someone down in the street? Can we flag a stranger down? I bet a stranger would help her.”

The woman died.

In another event, Forest Park (Ga.), Master Patrol Officer Christopher Simmons was approached by woman whose adult son was unconscious, unresponsive, and slumped over the center console of a parked car. Simmons sprang to action, bringing the 41-year-old victim inside from a frigid downpour, performing CPR on him, and ultimately keeping the man alive until paramedics arrived.

“Had it not been for MPO Simmons training and quick response, the outcome of this situation could have been disastrous,” said Major Chris Matson as he described Simmons’ heroic actions.

The man lived.

CPR, AEDs, and SCA Aside from the obvious contrasts, the fundamental similarity between the two events is cardiopulmonary resuscitation — CPR.

According to Benjamin Abella, a clinical research director for the Center for Resuscitation Science and the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, an estimated 98 percent of police officers are trained regularly in CPR.

That’s good news, because according to Abella, Police are typically among the first to arrive on the scene, so having CPR-enabled individuals on hand can help increase a victim’s survival when their heart suddenly stops beating.

The bad news is that while emergency medical teams treat about 300,000 people each year outside the hospital for cardiac arrest, less than eight percent of those survive, according to statistics from the American Heart Association.

CPR is an excellent, life-saving skill, but in the opinion folks like Abella, Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) also have a place in the police officer’s medical arsenal.

I happen to agree with that assessment.

Nearly four years ago, I wrote a short article about AEDs being deployed into the trunks of squad cars — how having those devices present was markedly showing success.

A little more than two years ago, the Rochester (Minn.) police officers began carrying AEDs in their cars. As of today, they’ve saved 127 lives and achieved a 52 percent survival rate.

Answering the Call Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., claiming an estimated 325,000 lives annually. That’s more than lives lost from breast cancer, prostrate cancer, AIDS, traffic accidents, firearms, and house fires combined. Furthermore, SCA can happen to anyone, anywhere, of any age, at any time.

I think we can all agree that because police officers are out patrolling our streets day and night, you’re frequently first on the scene of these medical emergencies.

For example, check out this video, and pick up the remainder of today’s tip below.

Getting Help in Giving Help Nearly every cop has CPR training. I’m hopeful that in time, a similar proportion also has access to an AED — very close at hand — while out on patrol.

Times are tough, cash is tight, and budgets are shrinking most everywhere. At about a thousand dollars per unit, AEDs are probably not at the very top of your agency’s list of acquisition priorities, and that’s completely understandable.

Please be advised, however, that there are private parties — individuals, charitable foundations, and corporations — two whom you can turn for financial assistance. Further, there are various grant programs you can tap into. I encourage you to email my friends at PoliceGrantsHelp to, well, get help with police grants.

Send an email to expert@policegrantshelp.com for more information on grants for AEDs. In the meantime, be sure to keep current on your CPR skills, and always be ready to use them.

Women and men think differently.

Yeah, I know, newsflash.

We think differently for at least two reasons. One is biological. It is scientific fact that our brains are biologically different. Another reason is sociological. Women and men share life experiences and perspectives that are uniquely female and male in our culture which shape how we think.

I think I read about the following point somewhere in a book about women’s leadership styles, but can’t for the life of me remember where. Permit me to credit the universal consciousness when I say that before men enter law enforcement, they are raised to be warriors, whereas women are often raised to be worriers.

Women seem much more likely to spend time and energy worrying and fretting over mistakes. Perhaps because of their practice time with TV remotes, men can also be pretty good with mindset remotes.

We women tend to hit rewind and play mistakes over and over. Men are more likely to switch their mindset channel until they find something they like. Men know that wasting valuable time and energy worrying depletes and distracts us from our mission and goals.

With that mindset remote in hand, men tend to do better staying fixed on one goal, like winning. This single-minded focus can be crucial to achieving the heroic.

On the other hand, women’s greater attention to detail and process, to means and not just ends, to the journey and not just the destination, means we’re more likely to ask, “Win what?”

And achieving heroic things is as much about quality as quantity.

I say “Vive la difference!” Because we’re different, as Aristotle said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

We can learn from and help each other.

The position of advantage can change quickly in a dynamic encounter, and you need to understand the effect of sudden shifts so as not to be jeopardized by them.

Consider when you’re dealing with a suspect who’s seated in a chair, a couch, or on the ground, for example.

Trainer Tony Blauer of Blauer Tactical Systems likes to ask his classes: “Given that a subject is going to try to attack you physically, when is he most dangerous — when he’s standing or when he’s sitting?”

“They always say, ‘When he’s standing,’ ” Blauer says. “When he’s seated, officers assume he’s not in a ready fighting stance and they tend to see him as less dangerous.

“But if you have to move in and pull him up to take custody of him, things change radically — and fast. You’re stepping into his reactionary gap. You’re bringing your knees, your gun, your TASER, your throat, and your hands into his range. As you pull his butt off contact with what he’s sitting on, you cycle him into a wrestling stance. You compromise yourself for a tackle or a gun grab if he has evil intent.”

Critical to your protection, Blauer suggests, is a change of mindset. “Switch on to the fact that you’re around potential danger, when dynamics can change quickly. Forget any presumption of weakness or of automatic compliance because of a subject’s position. Just being cognizant of the potential risk will improve your reaction time to an attempted attack.”

And he underscores one of his mantras of DT training: When practicing physical control drills, always spend some time as the bad guy — and play that role with intensity and ingenuity. “Learning from experience what it takes to launch an assault will help you pick up on pre-attack cues and shut down trouble before it starts.”

For information on training, visit Blauer’s website. He will be instructing on personal defensive tactics at the upcoming ILEETA annual conference, Apr. 15-20 in Wheeling, Ill.

U.S. Customs agents recently busted two women at JFK airport who were caught smuggling numerous kilos of cocaine in thick “diapers” made of duct tape.

While this certainly wasn’t the first time someone has used diapers to try to smuggle contraband — including actual, real-life diapers on actual, real-life babies — it does provide an impetus to think about drug runners.

When it comes to drug mules, the sky’s the limit when it comes to where and how they’ll hide the goods. Remember to always be thinking outside of the box (or the boxers, I guess!) during your encounters, regardless of whether or not they’re initially drug-related.

Does something look out of the ordinary with someone’s clothing or the way they’re holding themselves? In the case of the diaper-smuggling duo at JFK, at least one of them was reported to have been noticed walking oddly.

How about someone’s behavior? Are they too nervous about a simple speeding ticket? Are they making it clear they can’t end their discussion with you quickly enough? How about simple stories that don’t jibe?

Contraband discovery tips are innumerable, and we’ve shared scores in the past, but the bust at JFK serves as a reminder that the hunt can never stop and the need to be ultra-observant and ultra-curious is constant.

As you’ll note, we will have a special emphasis on drug interdiction during the month of February, so if you have any tips or ideas to share, please email me.

Stay safe out there my friends.