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A Christmas Prayer for Peace Officers Around the World

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As we approach Christmas here in the United States I’m struck, as always, by the emotions evoked by all the Christmas Carols and Traditional Music.  I know this can be a special, busy, dangerous and wonderful time to be in law enforcement.

Christmas music reminds me of why we are here and how important the role of peace officer is now, and all year long.  The next time you hear a Christmas Carol try listening as a police officer and see… Continue reading

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copline

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Thinking about making a donation this holiday season?

Here are the law enforcement organizations that CopsAlive recommends that you consider for your donations.

National Police Suicide Foundation
Donate Your Time: CLICK HERE
Donate Your Money: CLICK HERE

The Pain Behind the Badge
Ask how you can donate to the scholarship program

National Police Wives Association

The Badge of Life

Wives Behind the Badge

Spartan Cops
Help them out by buying some gear and then give that as a gift too!

Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.)
Donate Money: CLICK HERE
Other Ways to Donate: CLICK HERE

C.O.P.S. Colorado
Please Support My Local Chapter:

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund

Support the National Law Enforcement Museum as “A Matter of Honor”

CopLine
The first national hotline for law enforcement officers and their families

Get into the Holiday spirit and give back to your profession!

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Are You Living Your Life Like an Emergency?

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CopsAlive is pleased to welcome a new contributor in Diane Sieg.  Diane was an emergency room nurse for over 20 years.  She wrote her first book, “STOP Living Life Like an Emergency”, because she wanted to illustrate and identify how so many of us were living in such a frenetic state of more, better, faster.

Are you Living Your Life Like an Emergency?
As an emergency room nurse for over twenty years, I witnessed overdoses, car accidents, heart attacks, and gunshot wounds.  More often than not, the patients I treated created their own emergencies.  Whether it was falling asleep at the wheel, ignoring warning signs, or rushing to get something done, the emergency living they participated in contributed to the events that brought them to the ER.
Why are we all in such a rush?  This can be especially true for you as police officers where emergency living is full of chaos, crisis, and panic.  It keeps us moving at warp speed, always thinking about… Continue reading

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Ten Tips Toward Total Wellness for Police Officers

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CopsAlive.com offers law enforcement professionals a list of Ten Tips Toward Total Wellness for Police Officers with supporting information from the Mayo Clinic and other health professionals.

1. Drink Lot’s of Water
2. Get Eight Hours of Sleep
3. Control Your Stress
4. Reduce Your Intake of High Fructose Corn Syrup Continue reading

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Take a Virtual Tour of the U.S. National Law Enforcement Museum (opening in 2013)

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From the early days of the night watch in the 1600s to the high-tech criminal investigations of the 21st century, discover a history that has largely gone untold — the history of American law enforcement — a profession that serves a vital and valued role in our society.

The National Law Enforcement Museum will be a hands-on, interactive museum providing an opportunity to walk in an officer’s shoes… Continue reading

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A Cop with a Plan for Business

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I came across E.L. Forestal while posting some CopsAlive information on the social network Twitter (visit us at www.Twitter.com/copsalive) and noticed that he has several internet businesses running and he is a working police officer.  I contacted him and learned that he is an eight year veteran of the Kokomo Police Department in Indiana and because of so many requests from his friends about how to become a police officer he created two training programs about how to pass the police exam and how to succeed in a police oral-board interview.  Also because of his sports background he has created an online fitness  program called “Fit with a Cop”.

I am always looking for officers with a “back-up” plan to provide extra income and insurance against working in patrol until you are 65 years old and Forestal told me that… Continue reading

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Getting Broken in on the Job at C.O.P.S.

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Guest Posting By: Brooke McKay, Marketing Coordinator, Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc.

I arrived at C.O.P.S. Spouses’ Retreat the weekend of September 18-21,
2009, at the YMCA Trout Lodge in Potosi, Missouri, after only one month
as the Marketing Coordinator for Concerns of Police Survivors.  I knew
the organization dealt with death, dying, and grief; yet I was not
prepared for what I saw. I was instantly introduced to a young widow who
was there for the first time.  She was 25 years old, just one year older
than me. While I smiled as I meet all the spouses, I could not get the
young widow out of my head.

Part of my job that weekend was to interview… Continue reading

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What’s the Point of All This Work as a Cop?

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If you’ve followed my writings for a while, you may have noticed my slant on financial planning for police officers is less about money and more about a rewarding and satisfying life.  Money is a necessary part of life, but not the purpose of it.  Sometimes as cops, we get so focused on earning money, that we forget what that money is for.

Here is a tale that always brings me back to reality when it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees.   I’ve seen this many places so I don’t know who credit as the original author.

“It had been almost two years since the American businessman, with an MBA from a prestigious Ivy League school, took a vacation.  He had a very important role as a business advisor at… Continue reading

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“Officer Down”—Now What?

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The worst news any law enforcement agency can hear is that an officer has been killed.  How does an agency respond to those devastating words, “Officer down”?

Since 1996, Concerns of Police Survivors (C.O.P.S.) has provided highly acclaimed training to help agencies deal with officer death, injury, disability, police suicide, and the after effects of losing a close co-worker.  The “Traumas of Law Enforcement” is recommended for Chiefs, Superintendents, Sheriffs, Chaplains, Dispatchers, Benefits Assistance Officers, Planning and Research officers, Employee Assistance employees, Liaison Officers, Special Operations Divisions, Victim Assistance personnel, any law enforcement officer, law enforcement family member, or law enforcement survivor.

While the “Traumas of Law Enforcement” trainings have usually been funded through Federal grants to Concerns of Police Survivors, C.O.P.S. paid the $90,000 cost for these trainings out of their general account in 2008 and raised funds from Streamlight®, GLOCK®, Harley-Davidson, the 100 Club of Houston, TX, and the Maryland and Indiana Chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors for the 2009 trainings.  C.O.P.S. is now able to redirect funds from their general account and corporate contributions to other C.O.P.S. programs thanks to a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs of the U.S. Department of Justice.  In May 2009, BJA announced a $1.5 million, 20-month grant to C.O.P.S. to fund the “Traumas of Law Enforcement” for 2010 and 2011.

The training is a three-day seminar, totaling 21 hours, providing law enforcement agencies with the tools needed… Continue reading