Podcast
Blue Canary: For Cops By a Cop
Hosted by Steve Kellams · EN
Who approaches the scene first risking their lives for the safety of others? We do. The blue canaries, law enforcement. We allow others to tell our stories. It's time for us to tell our own stories. Blue Canary is a show for cops by a cop, retired Captain Steven Kellams. In each episode, Steve goes behind the scenes of a police department. Giving you real-world insight into why decisions are made, what obstacles are ahead, and how the answers to your questions aren’t always found in the news. It’s unfiltered, it’s relevant and it’s for anyone brave enough to wear a badge.
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Possessed
Oct 23, 202400:06:21Tap to summarizeSend us a textWelcome to our annual Halloween Episode. These stories have been told to me by officers around the country and they swear they are true stories. Thanks to Parker for this one.Happy Halloween.
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Leading in the Jails
Oct 9, 202400:46:20Tap to summarizeSend us a textIn the United States there are 3,116 local jails, 1,566 State Prisons, and 98 Federal Prisons. But let’s not forget the 1,323 Juvenile Corrections Facilities, 142 Immigration detention facilities, and 80 Tribal jails. These facilities house a little over 1.2 million prisoners.These facilities are staffed with approximately 393,000 corrections officers.At first glance that might seem like a lot.A lot of facilities,A lot of prisoners, A lot of jailers,But it isn’t.Let’s take a look at crime for a minute. The causes of crime have been studied for decades, and while some of the results may fly in the face of what we have been told over the years, facts are facts. For example, poverty does not cause crime, and the number one way to lower crime is through incarceration. You want your neighborhood to be safe. Easy, lock up the criminals. Consequences matter and holding people accountable for their actions has proven time and time again to be an effective deterrent.Studies also show that 1 percent of the population commit over 60 percent of crime in America. Today there are a little over 1.2 million prisoners accounting for .36 percent of the US population. I would also argue that statistically we are living in a period of very high crime rates.In 2008 the US prison population peaked at almost 2.5 million prisoners and you wanna know what else happened. Our crime rates were at a historic low.Don’t believe me look it up.There are around 800,000 police officers in the US today and they seem to garner most of the attention. They get most of the praise, the complaints, the glory, and the training … what little there is of that.But what about those 393,000 corrections officers. They seem to be left behind when it comes to the praise, glory, and specifically training.We refuse to do that.[Insert Intro]Jeff Carter retired in December of 2018 as the Deputy Director of the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Over his 20-year career, he has worked all levels of custody inside a 1,300-bed correctional facility located in the horse racing capitol of the world. Jeff was an instructor for 5 years inside the academy, where he trained over 700 recruits, molding them into successful leaders in the Corrections field. While promoting through the ranks, he commanded the Professional Standards Unit where he specialized in Internal Affairs investigations and Gang Intel for 7 years.I asked Jeff to talk about leadership, specifically in the jail system, but most of his advice is relevant no matter where you work.[Insert Interview]And that’s the story we have to tell.
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Chief of Police
Sep 25, 202400:36:24Tap to summarizeSend us a textChief of Police is a title typically given to the head of a police department, but that simple definition gets very confusing very quickly. Sheriffs are the name we give to elected officials who preside over county law enforcement in the US, while Chief’s of Police typically preside over municipal police agencies.Sometimes Chief’s are elected. Sometimes they are appointed by a mayor or city council. Sometimes they are selected through the civil service act. Sometimes they are not called Chief’s of Police at all.Police Commissioners are another term, frequently found in the larger metropolitan areas Chief,When we talk about the police chief’s we are talking about the head of a municipal police department not affiliated with the local sheriff’s office.What do chief’s do?Sorry to make you laugh, it wasn’t a trick question.Chiefs of police are typically responsible for operational oversight, budgeting, planning, discipline, direction, regulations, communications, and in smaller agencies general police work. All at the behest of a governing body, either mayor or city council.It’s not an easy job.I rose to the highest levels of administration in my police department. I was third in charge, so while I didn’t ever actually do the job, I did learn one thing.You can’t pay me enough to do it.[Insert Intro]George Sippert spent 32 years serving the people of Flint Township Michigan. Flint township is located on the west side of the city of Flint Michigan. He took over as chief of police in 2004 an served until 2018. Throughout his career, Sippert also served in various roles including: Field Training Officer, Firearms instructor, School Resource Officer, Community Policing Division Commander and Motorcycle Unit Commander.He is also a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy, a member of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police, Genesee County Chiefs Association, Central Michigan Chiefs Association, Genesee County 911 Advisory Board and the Flint Area Narcotics Group Advisory Board.I have had the pleasure of knowing and speaking with George on a number occasions and I couldn’t think of anyone better to discuss the role of the police chief.
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School of Hard Knocks
Jun 5, 2024Tap to summarizeSend us a textLeadership Journeys.You are going to hear me talk a lot about leadership journeys this season.What do I mean about leadership journeys? It’s how I describe the process of growing as a leader, of taking on formal and informal responsibilities and about not only learning the process of leadership, but embracing it as well.I decided the best way to start this season off was to talk you through my leadership journey, and no it wasn’t very pretty.Many of you out there have had the pleasure of having a mentor or role model for your leadership journey. I had none.Ok, so that isn’t entirely true, I have found out while preparing for this season that we all have guides on our leadership journey, they just might not be formal ones and maybe we didn’t recognize them for what they were.You see in my law enforcement career I had very few, and I mean very few positive formal role models. The supervisors and leaders that I had throughout my 30-year career in law enforcement were terrible. But I learned from them. I mostly learned what not to do.What not to do.That can be a powerful teacher.
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