The Edge of Empty

For several years now, we have made it a tradition to support the Officer Down Memorial Page  (ODMP) by participating in the Police Week 5k .  The number of family members who participate varies from year to year but I must say that the best year for me was the one that all four of us ran.  Since Youngest is majoring in Police Studies (like his Mama--aaahh), I don't see this tradition coming to an end any time soon. Each year, the race finishes adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Memorial.  This is a sobering yet fitting reminder of the reason for Police Week. Last year ,  I discussed the memorial a bit.  This year I wanted to focus more on the reasons for the memorial and what it represents. One of the most emotional aspects of participating in the 5k is that each runner is assigned a fallen officer for whom they run.  This year, the Hubster will be running for  Deputy Sheriff Robert Leo Britton, Jr.  of Smith County Sheriff's Office ...

A dministrators of false alarm units are often called on to present information to the local government officials.  In preparation for my debut briefing the Supervisors in my county, I visited Albemarle County last week for their  Board of Supervisors meeting .  The Albemarle County Police Department was before the board to present some updates to their false alarm ordinance so it was a good opportunity to witness public reaction.  The great thing about local government is that the public has the opportunity to participate.  Albemarle County and many other counties allow citizens to have their time to air their opinions simply by signing up before the meeting begins.  The number of people who sign up, determines how much time each speaker is given.  For this meeting, there were so many people signed up, that the time limit was reduced to two minutes each. The agenda for each meeting is generally posted in advance but the public commentary doe...

Our travels last week took us through Kentucky.  Of course I had to peruse the web to see what is going on in the world of false alarm reduction in the bluegrass state.  Of the cities that we would be visiting, Lexington was the first that I found with a false alarm reduction unit . Alarm systems in Lexington must be registered and there is an application fee of $15, which seems to be a one time fee. (Update: the $15 fee is an annual fee). Lexington's ordinance is similar to most other ordinances, but it has a feature that I have not seen before.  The fine schedule lists minimum and maximum fines.  If an alarm user doesn't contest the alarm, they pay the minimum fine.  If they contest the fine and lose, they could end up paying the maximum fine. Fines begin at the fourth alarm with a $25 minimum fine and go up to a $300 minimum fine for the 9th alarm (maximum fine is $500).  These fines are relatively low compared to fines in the area where I live;...

Law enforcement agencies have always struggled with how best to serve the public and provide the most service on budgets that never seem to have enough funds.  One of the creative solutions that  many departments utilize is placing a "field office" in whatever business will give them a space.  Many field offices consist solely of a desk in an unused corner of a store.  This provides officers with a place to take care of paperwork more comfortably than in their cruiser.  It also saves on fuel costs and reduces air pollution because the officers do not have to keep the engine running to maintain some sense of comfort .  Wise businesses realize that having a police presence is beneficial to them as well.  It would be an unwise criminal who decided to hold up a store where an officer was doing paperwork. This Philly police badge was located on the door of what I imagine is a field office in the Target store next to our hotel in Philly .  

I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Washington DC during National Police Week .  While there, the Hubster ran the Police Week 5K and we visited the Law Enforcement Officers Memoria l.  The memorial is a sobering reminder that so many have given all in the pursuit of public safety.  Unfortunately, it was raining so the pictures aren't great, but the rain seemed fitting--almost as if angels were mourning with those gathered there.  The memorial itself is surrounded by a beautiful park setting with trees and seasonal flowers and is composed of two curved marble walls engraved with the names of the more than 19,000 officers who have died. Each of the memorial walls is flanked by a lion protecting its cubs and keeping silent vigil. Seal embedded in center of the memorial plaza It seems that every day a new name is added to the list that will be inscribed just before Police Week begins.  The park and memorial are beautiful and worth a stop if ...