By Andrew G. Hawkes

As officers age and gain more experience they often find themselves in the midst of an ever changing world of technology, laws, training and equipment. I remember when I first started out we were the first real generation that did not even consider carrying a wheel gun as a duty weapon. We would look at veteran officers and their revolvers as dinosaurs that needed to change. I told myself that I would never have a problem with adapting to innovations and new things because we had the latest and greatest equipment and little would change over the course of my career. Boy was I wrong!

Since my rookie year, I have seen the likes of major adaptations to the job. Now we have computers in the cars, our pistols have "rails" on them to add laser sights and flashlights, we have GPS in our cars that tell dispatch were we are at all times, and the innovative "OC Spray" is fastly becoming obsolete with the invention of the Taser. Racial profiling stats, civil liability and the end or at least the beginning of the end of "professional courtesy" is upon us as well.

Young, educated, already technology advanced recruits are looking at my generation thinking the same thing I thought so many years ago. But it's important to realize that all these changes are not only inevitable, but good for our profession and good for our safety. We must always look toward the future and be able change as things improve.

I didn't realize that little things, such as ASP batons had even changed so much until one of my rookie's ask me if mine still worked. I didn't realize that batons had almost morphed in some type of spaceage lightsaber looking gadget. Mine, well its mostly chipped-up metal with quite a bit of DNA on it. Don't become a dinosaur, make the little changes necessary to keep up with the learning curve..you will be glad you did...

Training is the key to maintaining a long and worthwhile career. At retirement you can look back at a successful career and many accomplishments, that you had in year one or year eighteen. Don't become "retired on duty" but do whatever it takes to maintain that edge as an officer, whether it is studying up on the newest laws in the classroom or getting the latest certification on the newest piece of equipment out there.

I gotta run now...I have to enter racial profiling on my laptop while my camera records my every move and my GPS tells me how to get to the next call....

Read more: http://www.copsonline.com/profiles/blogs/change-is-inevitableroll-with#ixzz0N7qq4wPz

Stay safe,
Andrew G. Hawkes
www.highwaydruginterdiction.com

By Andrew G. Hawkes

Ask any good, seasoned patrol officer the importance of maintaining your everyday equipment and you might get a response like “Do cars need gas to run? Or, does a marathon runner need shoes to run in?” Having clean, up-to-date equipment such as a charged Taser or a full can of OC spray is important, but not nearly as important as maintaining your duty weapon. You don’t have to be an expert firearms instructor, a Tactical Commander or even be a gun crazy cop to know how to maintain a clean duty weapon. Ask any field training officer if he stresses the importance of a clean, functional weapon to his or her rookies, and I bet you will be hard pressed to find one that does not.

Basic skills should have been taught to you in the academy on weapons upkeep as well as upkeep of your everyday duty gear. A veteran officer knows that maintaining perhaps the most important piece of equipment that you may have to rely on to save your life or the life of someone else doesn’t take an expert, only consistency and responsibility.

Every officer should know the workings of his/her duty weapon, and know how to properly field strip and re-assemble their weapon after a proper cleaning. I love the hobby of collecting handguns. I am not a firearms expert, but I can tell you from years and years on the street, that choosing a duty weapon and sticking to that same make and model will benefit you in a life threatening situation. I know my duty weapon, a Sig Sauer P220, .45 caliber handgun better than I know any other gun that I own. I know the exact feel of each and every trigger pull, the way the gun feels when I decock it, and when the slide falls with a round in the chamber.

Having the proper cleaning supplies is a must, and I recommend a separate cleaning kit specifically for your duty weapon, where everything in the kit is designed to clean your best friend. Solvent, gun oil, even some WD-40, frame brushes and bore brushes and a good cleaning cloth will keep your trusted partner operational for years. And, if you have been on the street for awhile, or have spent many a round through your barrel, have an expert do a routine inspection on your weapon every few months. A new recoil spring that may cost you $50 bucks is a small investment when the time may come for it not to fail you.

Most law enforcement agencies are full of officer’s that are experts in firearms. If you are like me, not one of them, seek out their expertise on firearms maintenance. Then, with that nice, perfectly cleaned and operational best friend of yours, get your butt to the firing range so that you can return the favor to your weapon, by being just as reliable to the gun as the gun will be to you.

Stay safe, serve proud, and go home at the end of the day.

Andrew G. Hawkes
http://www.highwaydruginterdiction.com/

 

By Andrew G. Hawkes The average citizen, even the average patrol officer, often fails to realize what type of criminal element is driving down the interstate highways of our country. If you do not work highway interdiction, or as some call criminal interdiction then this element doesn't really exist to you, all you see are thousands of cars driving on the road daily. Over the years that I worked the highway, not only did I seize thousands of pounds of dope, hundreds of thousands of dollars in dope money, but also ran across just about every type of criminal imaginable. While looking for dope, the list of other types of criminals and offenses mounted. Stolen vehicles were recovered, child molesters with kiddie porn loaded down in the trunks were arrested, bank robbers with automatic weapons and bullet proof vests were taken into custody, white supremist transporting guns across state lines, murder suspects, rape suspects and others were all caught when they felt they were safest, in-transit on the highway, several states away from their fugitive state. My point is that without interdiction officers, these criminals WOULD be safe on the highways. Your average traffic cop or beat officer will not work the interstate thus leaving these scumbags to drive right on by them, as long as they aren't speeding, of course. It's up to our troopers, county Mounties, and local boys to get on the interstate if one rolls through your jurisdiction and find these felons on the run. Because if you don't, they may just stop off in your town to gas up or use the restroom, and commit a violent crime in the process. Learning to develop your interdiction skills and your investigative skills is a must if you wish to do more than run a radar gun during your career. Trust me, I can tell you that the adrenaline rush of a good foot chase, car chase or opening a trunk and seeing 200 pounds of coke is a lot more exciting than writing Mr. Rogers a speeding ticket for 45 in a 35. Stay safe, Andrew G. Hawkes www.highwaydruginterdiction.com

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