Worth Taking A Look...

A video by Jocko Willink, 20-year Navy SEAL, on using bad events for motivation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdTMDpizis8

Too Late...

Sometimes life can be rough. You get an idea you want to execute but life has other plans.

I recently contracted with the Mansfield News Journal to provide a weekly column profiling military veterans in and around the Richland County region. Ron Simon, a fantastic writer who'd previously held down that gig, passed away last fall and the Journal had been looking for a source for the vet stories ever since; they're quite popular with the NJ's readers. I have a great deal of respect for our veterans and, coupled with my passion for American history, this was a perfect fit, a task I enjoy immensely,

This morning, I traveled to a friend's home in Ontario; he's a retired copper also, a man who lost his wife to cancer on Thanksgiving night. Ron knows a lot of people, and recently he'd told me about two area neighbors who are World War Two veterans, men I'd definitely like to profile for the newspaper. Since he knows them personally, Ron decided to call one of them first, to see if I could make an appointment to talk to him.

Ron started speaking on the phone to the man's adult son, surprised that he would be at his father's home so early in the day. It soon became evident that something was wrong on the other end of the line by the look on Ron's face.

The man I wanted to interview, to get his story of what he'd experienced during the war, had died mere hours before.

The man was Ontario resident Chet Hellinger.

Every day, America loses her WW II veterans at an ever increasing rate, these heroes who defended liberty and freedom on mostly foreign soil, young men heroically serving the inferno that is war. I honor those men and women who gave up a portion of their lives to military service, no matter the conflict, no matter their involvement. They are all heroes.

This morning, we lost another.

Joe Deters Is Waiting On What??!!

Joe Deters is the Hamilton County Prosecutor and, by all accounts a very good one at that. He serves a county of 3.11 million residents, which includes the city of Cincinnati, by prosecuting felony offenses.

A big job, to be sure.

A case landed on his desk somewhere around January sixth of this year, in which a man was charged with harassment with a bodily substance, a fifth-degree felony offense, as well as several misdemeanor charges. The felony came about in the Hamilton County jail, where the man spit on a jail nurse who was trying to examine him during the book-in process.

Deters put the case on the back burner because...well, he wants to see what kind of discipline the National Football League might impose on the man.

The suspect charged with the crimes, you see, just happens to play professional football in Cincinnati. His name is Adam Jones, and this instance was not his first arrest by a long shot. Jones has a history of arrests dating back to his high school playing days, so its safe to assume he is a frequent flier with police. His bad behavior has continued on in the NFL; Jones was suspended for the entire 2007 season because of a build-up of legal problems and he also missed a handful of games the following year for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

So why is Prosecuting Attorney Deters shelving the case? Why is he waiting to see what the NFL does with Jones? I can't answer that. I can tell you, however, that if an employee of, say, Therm-O-Disc had been arrested on the same charges, Richland County Prosecutor Gary Bishop wouldn't hold off prosecuting the case in order to see what discipline the company imposed on their employee, especially if said employee had a lengthy criminal conduct history.

As for Adam Jones' conduct after being arrested in a Cincy hotel, you can witness his verbal assault on the arresting officer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMH_8fE1ADE . WARNING: graphic language.

 Jones' actions were shameful and he should not receive special consideration from the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office just because he is a professional athlete.

Oh, and the arresting officer? He is an African American, too, which makes Jones' verbiage all the worse. He called Sgt Jarrod Cotton a 'b---h' 21 times, told him to perform an oral sexual act on Jones eleven times and used the term 'niggah' too many times to count. He repeatedly kicked the police cruiser's door after being placed inside and, once at the jail, became so disorderly that Jones was placed in a restraint chair after attempting to head-butt a jail employee.

Mister Deters, this is the time to stand up for our men and women wearing a badge and enforcing our laws. Prosecute this career criminal now.

They Were Incarcerated For A Reason

Traffickers in mass amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, half-ton amounts of marijuana; identity thieves who've caused several million dollars' worth of losses to American victims, forgers, embezzlers, gun traffickers, criminals who laundered money for drug traffickers....they're all going to be walking our streets in the coming months, free after Barack Hussein Obama granted clemency for them mere hours before the end of his term as President of these United States.

Some of these criminals had been given life sentences. LIFE! Why? Mostly due to the fact they are recidivists. They weren't rehabilitated the first two or three times they were convicted and sentenced to prison for trafficking in drugs.

White House counsel Neil Eggleston, after yesterday's latest round of clemency grants, issued this statement: "All of the individuals receiving commutation today, incarcerated under outdated and unduly harsh sentencing laws, embody the President's belief that 'America is a nation of second chances' ".

Those who have died either through violent acts associated with drug trafficking or overdose didn't get a 'second chance'.

What Barack Obama has done is unconscionable. He has thumbed his nose at the victims of these criminals, at the families of those who've lost their lives through violence committed by subordinates of these drug kingpins, especially the survivors of police officers killed enforcing laws designed to put these thugs behind bars.

Narcotics investigators at every level worked unbelievably hard to apprehend and prosecute these people, placing their lives on the line to protect all of us from the inherent violence and death associated with drug trafficking. Prosecuting attorneys spent hundreds of thousands of hours putting together cases and then executing them on behalf of We the People in court rooms across this nation to make us safer.

All for nothing, their efforts wasted at the stroke of a pen by a man who has weakened and divided this nation more than any other President in this country's history. Barack Obama, in eight years, has commuted the sentences of or pardoned more prisoners than the previous NINE Presidents combined.

Let that sink in for a moment. Then be thankful that he won't be able to pardon or grant clemency to Joaquin Guzman, otherwise known as 'El Chapo', head of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel who was just extradited from that nation to face federal drug trafficking and conspiracy charges in six states here in America.

Odds 'N Ends

Happy MLK Day. Let us all pause and remember what the Reverend Dr. King's message was really about.

A segment of Democratic legistators are skipping Friday's inauguration of our country's 45th President. Celebrities are engaging in protests. Performers are refusing to perform at the event. I say 'good'.  Unlike some of the younger generation, I can remember a time when a presidential inauguration didn't closely resemble a pre-Super Bowl Hollywood gala. Parades with marching bands? Fine. No problem. Parades are good; we have them on major national holidays. Let's focus on what the day really represents, though: a transition of power in the White House.

I was thinking about some of the losses we've suffered in the local law enforcement realm lately, specifically Lawrence Harper and Dan Brant. It brought to mind another man who had a great deal of influence in my career as a police officer, a leader that I wish today's generation of coppers could have known: Lt. J.D. 'Jack' Moore, post commander of Mansfield's Ohio State Highway Patrol back in the '70s.

A few weeks ago I mentioned Lt Moore in the Lawrence Harper post, saying that he was '...the best cop I ever knew.' Allow me to expand on that. He was one of the best PEOPLE I had the privilege of knowing. I first met him in 1977, when I was accepted as a cadet/dispatcher at post 70. Cadet/dispatchers are persons who have been accepted into the OSHP training academy but are awaiting assignment to a class of recruits. Until their class starts, they work as dispatchers for the State Patrol and are, figuratively speaking, at the bottom of the totem pole.

Jack Moore didn't see it that way, because he treated me more as a fellow employee instead of the lowest subordinate. He would take me to workout sessions with him three times a week when I worked day shift, always at the old Naval Reserve center on Ashland Road, where we'd run laps in the small gym. Many, many of them. Then calisthenics, with LT always encouraging me to go one repetition further than my body said I could. He told me everything he knew about the academy, what to expect and prepare for, how to act and respond to the training staff. It would be tough, he told me, tougher than anything I'd ever done...and he had been right. The point is, JD didn't make a difference in how he treated people, be it a young cadet/dispatcher or one of his troopers. He was a pure people person, well-respected among his peers. From that first day I met JD to this morning, I have yet to hear one person make a single, negative remark about Jack Moore.

Many, many folks in today's law enforcement community would benefit from adopting his leadership style. That was illustrated several years ago when a young, eager patrol officer came to me with a question.

"Tim, how do you get so many people calling you or telling you drug information?" The guy was speaking about drug trafficking intelligence.

My response? "Well, Norbert ( not his real name ), first off, don't treat everyone you come in contact with like crap. You don't need to write a ticket or summons every time someone breaks the law. Give a guy a break on a minor violation, he'll remember that and maybe help you out in the future."

Norbert was stunned. Apparently, he'd never considered that possibility.

People make mistakes. We're humans and we sometimes make bad decisions which could follow us for life. The key is, if you make a mistake or bad decision, learn from it and move forward. Listen to those who have been where you want to go. One incident is a mistake; after that, behavior and/or decisions become a pattern.

Above all, treat others how you want to be treated. It's not rocket science, folks.

Thought For Today...

Just because you have an Italian last name doesn't mean you should open a restaurant.

Another Leaves Us

I first met Captain Dan Brant in August of 1984 and I was scared to death of him.

I'd been hired on the 4th of that month, sworn in alongside Chuck Norris, Chris Brunk and Dave Nirode. I can't recall where the other three were assigned, but I drew afternoon shift...Captain Brant's shift.

Sgt Bob 'Pappy' Poth was my training officer, and I couldn't have drawn a better one. Bob knew everyone and everyone knew him. He was a real street copper.

He took me into the Watch Commander's office to meet Captain Brant that first day, an old hand a shade over six feet and carrying a little extra weight for his frame. I was very nervous, though I can't explain why, other than I knew that this man had the power to take my job at the first misstep. Captain Brant peered at me over the top of his reading glasses, sizing me up.

"So, an Ontario guy, huh?" I'd been at Ontario PD for four years before being hired on at the city.

"Yessir."

"Welcome aboard", he said, standing and extending a hand. "Forget everything you think you know about being a policeman. Sergeant Poth will teach you how we do things here."

He sat back at his desk and resumed reading from a stack of papers, signalling that the introduction was over.

I was sweating.

I'd come to find in the weeks ahead that 'The Boss' was a stickler on paperwork; I'd always been pretty good at writng General Offense reports, and I'd done a few with the help of my 'coach' that hadn't been rejected. That would change, however.

Pappy and I were about three hours into the shift; I'd done my first G.O. on my own earlier, with no help from him, and had dropped it in the 'To Be Approved' basket in the Sergeants Office, feeling pretty satisfied with myself. Pappy had me driving and handling the radio at this stage, my earlier service at OPD having given me a head start during training. Then the radio call came.

"300 to 135". That was me.

"Go ahead."

"135, signal 23 and contact the Watch Commander." I had to go on station and report to Captain Brant.

HOLY COW, what could I have possibly done??!! Being told to contact 'The Boss' was a big deal.
I started running every scenario of what was going to happen through my head, every one of them ending with me being fired.

Pappy didn't help matters. "Uh oh, that's not good..." He had his head turned toward his door window; I couldn't see the smile that had to be there over causing a nervous rookie additional angst.

As we pulled into the compound, Pappy told me he'd wait in the car. I was going in alone.

I rounded the corner in the hallway that led straight to the WC office, and I could see Captain Brant absorbed in reading a G.O....which turned out to be the one I'd turned in earlier. I was sweating bullets as I stepped into his office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

Again, he peered at me over his glasses, not speaking immediately, fixing me with his unwavering gaze.

"Dangling participle." His eyes never left me.

WHAAAT??

"Dangling participle. You have one in your report," he said, holding up my paperwork adorned with a big red circle around the offending grammatical error. I'd have to rewrite the entire report.

Well, he wouldn't fire me over a dangling participle, would he?

Dan Brant died Sunday at the age of 72. Dan was a man I would come to know well over the coming years, a guy who would seem gruff until you got to know him and a man who liked to laugh. I don't know what kind of street cop he'd been, but I do know he was a very good supervisor who cared about his people. He was a man who would sit and talk about whatever you wanted to talk about, if need be, regardless of how much of his time you took.

I respected the man immensely and considered him a friend.

And I will miss him.