The Professional Reading Program is intended to save leaders that most precious commodity - time.

This post was inspired by a post at the Business Insider: General James 'Mad Dog' Mattis Email About Being 'Too Busy To Read' Is A Must-Read The General was asked by a colleague about the importance of reading for officers who often exclaimed they were too busy to read. The general’s response:

The METROLEC SWAT team, in conjunction with Gillette Stadium, will host a 26-hour First Responder Workout Marathon to raise money to assist victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, including MBTA Officer Richard Donohue and the family of MIT Officer Sean Collier. All proceeds will be donated to The One Fund.

Dates for Boyd and Beyond 2013 at Quantico, Virginia, are 11 and 12 October 2013.

More details to follow.

In the years to come, police agencies will likely encounter a heightened need for solid leadership as a combination of factors challenges law enforcement. Senior-level law enforcement officials will retire, creating a vacuum in the upper ranks and a shortage of experienced leadership talent.

Sid Heal sent this very insightful piece on leadership and its development for me to share with those who frequent this Blog. It was written back in August 2009 By GEN. TONY ZINNI and TONY KOLTZ. great insights on the age old questions are leaders born, made...or something in between?

Where good leaders come from.

This 23-minute roll-call training video put out by the IACP underscores the tragedies that regrettably result from officers' failing to wear their seatbelts. Wearing the seatbelt is only a piece of the equation to reaching the outcomes we seek in officer safety. Another big piece is the decisions you make behind the wheel.

Be sure to check this video out, then think about and heed the advice the officers in it recommend based on the lessons they have learned.

During a counter terrorism training program I attended in Israel in 2006, a quote of the Israel’s when talking about the difference in their strategy as compared to that of America “You look for the bomb…we look for the bomber” struck me like a ton of bricks. As I pondered this statement it became very clear that our efforts in fighting terrorist activity and even extending to criminal activity is that we look for objects rather than for behaviors.

Three officers respond at 3AM to the call of a disturbance. When they arrive, there are three people present, two males and a female. One male is intoxicated; I will only focus on him for the purpose of this example. Intoxicated male is spoken to by responding officers. They tell him to call it a night and to go to bed and sleep it off. He says he will and turns to go into the house. The officers continue gathering information for the incident report.

“It’s a proud day to be a Boston police officer,” Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis told his force over the radio moments after the arrest. “Thank you all.”