Saw this today from PoliceOne Senior Editor Doug Wyllie.  Very good tips and things we all need to keep in mind.

10 personal protection reminders

Although threats of revenge are a sad but true part of the job, most go unrealized. In a few tragic cases however, criminals do in fact attack officers’ homes and families. Here are 10 quick reminders of personal steps you can take to help protect your loved ones, your property and yourself:

1. Make sure your home phone number is not publicly listed.

2. Avoid having obvious law enforcement-related deliveries (like law enforcement magazines or gear from Police Stuff, Inc. delivered in a Police Stuff logo-emblazoned box) sent directly to your home and make clear that you do not want your rank included on anything sent to your home. The safest option is to get a P.O. Box and have an alternative street address you can use for package deliveries (some private mail drop businesses let you use their street address for UPS, Fed. Ex. and other similar package delivery services).

3. If you take your squad home, avoid parking it in front of your house if possible.

4. Don’t wear your uniform in your private vehicle.

5. Watch what you wear in public. Hats, tee-shirts, jackets, etc. that announce the fact that you’re a cop could draw unwanted attention.

6. Vary your route to and from work and keep an eye on who’s behind you when you drive.

7. When you come in and out of your home, make a conscious effort to take a second and look around.

8. Consider the address you’re using on applications that require you to list your place of employment along with your home address. Whenever possible, avoid associating the two.

9. Think like someone who might want to figure out where you live and try to “look for yourself.” Is your home in your name and your address readily available through public property records searches? Does an Internet search for your name pull up personal information you might want to try and have removed?

10. Ask trusted neighbors to always tip you off if they see something or someone odd in the area. Have they noticed someone who has started driving by your house regularly and paying particular attention to your home?

If you are not exercising this kind of due care during your off hours, you could be putting yourself and your family at risk.  Most of us accept these risks as a part of the job, but our families deserve the extra protection afforded by following the steps outlined above.

Be safe.

Ron Gunton

For some time now I have taught handlers that the K9 operation begins at the car.  What does that mean?  Simply, everything goes live once the dog is outfitted and retrieved from the patrol vehicle, not just at the threshold of the doorway or the last known location the suspect was seen.  Although we have included this type of training (I'll discuss some training options later in this piece) for years, one of my handlers recently had an occasion to experience this and although it played out well, it could have just as easily been disasterous.

A K9 unit responded as a back up on a residential burglar alarm.  While enroute, a patrol officer announced they had located an open door on the side of the house.  The handler, utilizing good tactics, parked several houses away and approached on foot with dog by his side.  He met up with the patrol officer that located the open door to discuss their game plan.  The handler told his dog to sit quietly by his side while they spoke but quickly noticed the dog was displaying interest to a truck attached to a boat trailer parked in the swale behind them.  After initially thinking that the dog was keying on an animal, he remembered his training and recognized the intelligent disobedience the dog was displaying while squaring up on the truck.  The K9 team approached the truck and located a subject hiding on the other side.  After a brief investigation it was determined the subject had in fact activated the alarm across the street after entering the garage door.  He had been hiding behind the truck the entire time the officers were on scene out of fear of being discovered, and luckily had no bad intentions of harming them. 

This only served to reinforce the understanding that the operation begins the moment we retrieve the dog, not as in this case, at the threshold of the side garage door.  I strongly urge those that don't already train this way to incorporate this concept ASAP.  I like to set up occasional building search or area search scenarios where the decoy is strategically placed outside of the search area in a location where the dog will scent them while on approach or while stationary during audible announcements.  This is two fold; one it teaches the dog to commit to the scent of a secreted "suspect" and two it demonstrates to the handler if the location of the suspect was known, they wouldn't need the dog in the first place.  Truth is, when we arrive on scene, rarely is the location of the suspect much more than a guess.  Try incorporating this into your training regimen to enhance your success while increasing your safety.  MJC

Over the last few weeks I've received several e-mails from K-9 handlers throughout the United States and Canada asking about mounting a flashlight to their handgun.  I must say I was taken back by these e-mails.  Since the late 80's (yes I've been around for a while) my department allows the entire department, not just K-9 handlers, to mount flashlights on our handguns, AR's and shotguns. 

I thought most departments were allowing their K-9 handlers to attach a flashlight to their handgun but apparently there are some departments that are not.  I'm finding out that the supervisors who are making these decisions, not allowing officers to mount flashlights on their handguns, have never been a K-9 handler.

I know there are several different flashlight in use throughout the country that K-9 handlers, SWAT operators and patrol officers utilize on their handguns.  So we can all make an educated choice I would request that handlers reply to this blog by stating what brand of flashlight they use on their handguns and the pros and cons of their flashlight.

Hopefully the information you provide will make a K-9 handlers job simpler and safer.  Thanks in advance for your replies.  Brad Smith
West Covina PD