Successful Cop – Jeffery Hart

Lt. Col. Jeffery Hart is the Assistant Chief of Police in Morganfield Kentucky, he is a successful cop and he is a lucky man.  I came across Jeff’s story when I was researching the heart defect that took the life of Colorado Police Officer Nick Heine.  See our blog on “Are You Planning for the Un-Expected?”  Officer Heine was a healthy 30 year old police officer who collapsed when he was running from one disturbance call to another.  He died later at the hospital from an undiscovered heart defect.  Jeff was 43 years old when he was responding to a robbery alarm and had a major heart problem that nearly took his life.  Jeff was lucky and had a chance to change his life and health, Nick was not.  How’s your health?  What do you do on a daily basis to maintain your wellness? Continue reading

Even Cops Can Get Hooked by Phishing

CopsAlive was on the wrong side of a phishing trip two weeks ago when we were hacked by a phishing scheme that used our server to host a false web page for a well known bank. It is believed that the hackers were trying to collect personal information from customers of that bank and used our domain to hide their scheme. Then yesterday we were hacked by a group that make a game of taking over sites and leaving nasty messages in place of the actual site. We’ve learned a few things from all this albeit the hard way. Let us share some tips for you. Continue reading

Successful Cop: Chuck Rylant

I recently had the opportunity to interview a police officer who really has planned for success in his life and his career.

Chuck Rylant began his law enforcement career in 1998 with the Lompoc Police Department in California. During those four years, he worked in a patrol car and later as a field training officer. While working graveyards on patrol, he chipped away at his bachelor degree by taking one class at a time. Looking back, he can remember struggling to stay awake while doing homework between 3:00 AM – 6:00 AM when there were only a few calls during his patrol shift. Unfortunately, he went through a divorce and had to put off finishing college for a couple of years while he got his “life in order”. Continue reading

When’s Your Independence Day?

Yesterday the United States celebrated it’s Independence Day.  Many countries celebrate such a day to denote their coming of age and independence from the input and control of another’s influence.  Not many people celebrate such a day for their life but maybe we should.

What in your life do you NEED to become independent from?  A mortgage?  A bad relationship?  A job?  An unhealthy lifestyle?  What would financial independence look like for you?  What would freedom look like to you?  CopsAlive is built upon the premise that we should have a plan to survive and thrive in life and in our job.  What’s your plan? Continue reading

How’s Your Financial Health?

Everyone is talking these days about higher gasoline prices, higher food costs and generally higher costs for everything we enjoy.  At the same time the financial markets of the world are struggling, record numbers of people are losing their homes and the misuse of credit has become a global problem.

How’s your financial health?  Are you unsettled by all around you?  Even though you are a police officer are you in the middle of some of these problems?  As a cop how well to you manage the financial resources you have? Continue reading

Internet Marketing Cruise for Cops

Have you ever wanted to start your own business on the internet.  Maybe you’re tired of working off-duty security gigs and want to work from home any time you want.  Consider joining me on an 8 day Caribbean Cruise to learn about doing business on the internet and talk to your accountant about whether it is an acceptable business tax deduction for you. Continue reading

As a Police Officer What’s Your Memorial?

Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the United States.  A holiday that was created to honor our valiant veterans who gave their lives in military service to our country.  According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs the Memorial Day Holiday started to honor the veterans of the American Civil War.

“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.” Continue reading

25 Questions Cops Should Ask Before They Get Married

CopsAlive asked relationship expert Janice Hoffman for some suggestions that police officers could consider before they become involved in a committed relationship or marriage and here is her article with some of our cop specific additions.

Falling in love is a beautiful thing. When we meet that special person, we want get to know them. We ask lots of questions, listen with curiosity and in the process fall deeper in love. If it feels right, we make the decision to share the rest of our lives together.

As a cop the desire to go from being single to married is a big step and should be taken very seriously. Sometimes the person we fall in love with has responsibilities they bring with them so it behooves us to learn as much as possible about this person we love and want to marry. Don’t forget also that inviting someone into the world of law enforcement also carries a lot of baggage and some people may not be ready so don’t withhold information from them thinking that you are helping them. It is always a good idea to fully inform your prospective mate of all that you think is important for them to know about your police career. Continue reading

Plan Your Life List

I first read about John Goddard when I read the original edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul several years ago.  At age 15 John set 127 goals he wanted to accomplish during his lifetime.  He wanted to accomplish great things and he wanted do lots of amazing stuff during his lifetime.  Now many years later he has done most of them and shares his experiences with others.  His list included things like exploring all the major rivers of the world and climbing the Matterhorn.  He rode elephants and camels, flew in jet fighters and lit a match with a .22 rifle.  He wanted to read the complete works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Thoreau to name a few and he was able to publish an article of his own in National Geographic.  He retraced the route of Marco Polo through all of the Middle East, Asia and China, and dove in a submarine.  Business World News called him the Real Indiana Jones CLICK HERE to read more.  I loved the story so much that I used to read it to my scout troop when I was a Scoutmaster and I would challenge all of them to write their own life list.  Do you have a Life List?  is it in writing? Continue reading

Stress: Cause or Symptom

When you really examine the side-effects of a law enforcement career on the men and women who take the oath and don the badge it’s kind of scary.

First examine the rate 100 to 200 police officers who are killed in the line of duty in the U.S. alone each year.  Then if you dig deeper, the statistics show that things like suicide, cancer and other side effects of the police career that kill thousands more cops each year. Continue reading