Officer Down! Lessons from the Streets book cover.
FEATURED IN TRAINING
Every civilization has its scribes. If law enforcement were a civilization, then Brian McKenna has long been our scribe. For more than 24 years, McKenna has meticulously researched officer-involved shootings, interviewed the officers involved and used that information to author the Officer Down! series of articles, which originally ran in The Police Marksman and are now published in Law Officer.His first book, Officer Down! Lessons from the Streets, is a compilation of 20 of the best articles from the series.
This book has wide appeal: New officers will be inspired by stories of courageous officers who fought valiantly to defend themselves, their partners and their communities. Veterans will gain useful reminders of the importance of mental preparation for violent encounters and refreshing the officer survival tactics they may have neglected. Incident summaries and study questions at the end of each chapter make this book useful for new recruits and experienced veterans.
McKenna provides training officers with an ample source of real-life incidents, and detailed and thoughtful analyses on which to base training scenarios. Some incidents may be familiar to dedicated trainers, but in each case McKenna provides information and ideas the reader may not have previously considered.
It takes a special ability and personality to approach officers who have survived such critical incidents and obtain their trust and cooperation. McKenna succeeded because the officers trusted him to be accurate and fair, and he delivered. His dedication to officer survival is evident on every page, and his 33 years of experience as a police officer, supervisor and trainer give him an understanding, compassion and insight that a well-meaning person without street experience simply can't match.
Brian is extremely credible, which made it easy to relate my story to him, says Craig Junginger, whose experience is told in Chapter 9. Brian seemed to understand my mindset. He allowed me to talk about the issue, and I felt comfortable while doing it.
Brian Hale, whose story is told in Chapter 17, describes McKenna as a policeman s policeman.
[McKenna] feels for the police officers and their families just like they are one of his own, Hale says. If officers can learn from others real-life incidents then McKenna is the one that should be asking the questions.
If reading an article or an account in the book better prepares a law enforcement officer to confront a life-threatening situation, says Kevin Bertalotto, whose story is told in Chapter 3, then by all means use it.
McKenna is a master wordsmith. Ed Deuel, whose story appears in Chapter 13, says that whether the reader is a cop or not, Brian can describe things so well that you think you re there.
Officer Down! Lessons from the Streets is a must read for any dedicated law enforcement professional. Purchase it on the Web at http://www.we-training.com or by phone at 314/921-6977.
Editor s note: Author Brian McKenna's Officer Down! column runs regularly in Law Officer and on LawOfficer.com, and the reviewer, Eric Dickinson, is cited in the book.
