158: “Your Children Are Not Safe”: DC Beltway Snipers
Tactical Tangents
In October 2002, a 17 and 41 year old carried out a series of serial murders, killing 10 and wounding 3 others in what were described as random attacks against people doing every day tasks like pumping gas and mowing their lawn. We cover lessons from this large scale, multi-agency investigation with takeaways for individual cops and police leaders related to public relations, investigative rigor, and interagency cooperation. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some...
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157: Use it or Lose it: The Essence of Officer Discretion
Tactical Tangents
There are over 18,000 police Chiefs and Sheriffs in the United States, and every one of them has their own version of what right and wrong looks like. But unless they plan on showing up at every traffic stop, they are going to have to trust that their Officers and Deputies on the front lines are doing the best they can. Empowering law enforcement officers with discretion to use their best judgment is a necessary part of policing, but there are some serious gotchas that we have to watch out for to maintain that responsibility and the trust of the people we serve. Find us on social media...
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156: I AM THAT B*TCH! Erica Gaines of TacMobility
Tactical Tangents
Erica is the founder of TacMobility, a wellness training company and online resource with a ton of free material for public safety. TacMobility is implementing a blend of mobility training and mental health support by working its way past the tough “sheepdog” exterior. Through eye-opening surveys, TacMobility highlights the not-so-funny truths about depression and the dusty corners where wellness programs sit unused. Advocating for a mix of low-effort, big-impact wellness habits, TacMobility proves you can indeed teach old dogs new tricks and balance the badge with a bit of brain and body...
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155: Say What You Mean, Mean What You Say
Tactical Tangents
Here’s the thing about plane crashes: We all die at the same time. Inefficient and ambiguous communication has serious tactical implications when managing a crisis as a team. Sometimes, we water down what we need to say because we don’t want to step on toes or piss anyone off, especially when talking to authority figures. This is called mitigated speech, and it is something leaders and team members need to be aware of when it comes to problem solving and decision making in groups. Episode 48: Outliers by Malcom Gladwell: Find us on social media...
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154: Get with the times: Pistol Optics are the way of the present
Tactical Tangents
For some reason there are a lot of people out there who still feel like putting an optic on your pistol isn’t reliable or practical, and our handsome hand model in the photo John Correia calls those people the Gun Amish. We agree with that title, because it’s 2024 and pistol mounted optics are a game changer. Mike and Jim talk about some of the challenges switching to a red dot sight on a handgun and some tips on how to overcome them. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes,...
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153: Guns n’ Guitars: Go learn something new
Tactical Tangents
There is an art and science to learning a new skill. Whether you are picking up new hobbies and trying to improve performance at essential job tasks, there are some tricks and concepts to understand to break plateaus and keep training fun. We cover crawl walk run, the balance between simple and technical, developing a growth mindset, and embracing the suck. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some reading list ideas, and more on our website Like what we’re...
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152: Do you trust me? Selflessness in Teamwork
Tactical Tangents
We say that we should put Service before Self, but it's more than just a mantra. Where the rubber meets the road is all in how we develop implicit trust among teammates so that we know where each other is going to be and what they are going to do when the going gets tough. We can accomplish this with the intentional application of Standards, Contracts, and good Debriefs. It's one thing that we all get along, but real trust isn't something that can be assumed as a given--we've got to earn it. Building trust in teams has a lot to do with the often unwritten social contracts that help us...
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151: All's Well...If We Make it Well
Tactical Tangents
Wellness isn’t just a soft and fuzzy term bandied about in the Human Resources department. Healthier, happier employees perform better, and in professions where the rubber meets the road, wellness is tactical. The trite concept of Work/Life balance isn’t so trite when lives are on the line. How do you keep yourself all happy and centered and still put in the grind to do the work? Listen to this episode to hear some ideas. Find us on social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/YouTube) @TacTangents You can join the conversation in our . Find all of our episodes, articles, some...
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150: Team Selection: Real-Life Fantasy Draft
Tactical Tangents
When drafting players for your fantasy sportsball team, stats provide an easy benchmark. Just pick the ones with the most home runs, passing yards, and the highest free-throw percentage. It’s a little harder selecting people for your real-life tactical team, but having a similar checklist in mind helps. In this episode Jim and Mike talk about what to look for. Having a good selection procedure is important for getting the right members on a team. Mike steals a page from advertising, only where an ad man conceptualizes the ideal customer, he’s looking for the ideal SWAT guy. The...
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149: A Good Commander Knows What to Control
Tactical Tangents
No team in law enforcement is composed of robotic textbook-following automatons, nor would we want it to be, if we’ve ever found ourselves at 2MPH over the limit. But when a worst-case incident unfolds, we want every first responder to make the right decision at the speed of life, because in those incidents seconds often equal victims. How can we raise the lowest common denominator, so our people make the right decisions quickly without rushing to failure? In this episode Mike and Jim talk about command and control, and teaching decision-making skills to team members. In this way, when...
info_outlineIn the mid-90s a little girl was reported to be kidnapped but was later found dead in the basement of her large, Boulder CO home. The case remains unsolved today, and several procedural errors on behalf of the officers and investigators who responded to the scene tainted our best chances to identify and prosecute Jon Benet's killer. Many believe the parents or her older brother were to blame. We may not ever know the truth. Mike and Jim give a synopsis and talk about some of the lessons.
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Intro music credit Bensound.com