I finally got around to sending those follow-up questions to my friend in law enforcement, and she was gracious enough to give us her candid responses. She also sent me an article to share with you all, as it helps illuminate the justifiable frustration currently felt among our law enforcement officers.

(@Eng_Politics & @JamesDerian, thanks again for the awesome suggestions)

1) Are there any internal politics or cliques that get in the way of reprimanding bad officers, or ones who make mistakes that are deserving of a reprimand, as you see it?

GH: I am not within cliques or politics within my department. I do my own thing and “lay low” to try to stay out of any of that. So, I can’t really answer that.

2) Many public figures have spoken out against choke holds, and some commentators have pointed out that they are often one of the safest techniques if executed properly. Do you believe the average officer has enough training to execute the technique safely in a high stress situation, or do you think that they are not worth the risk, physically or politically?

GH: Choke holds are not something we are trained to do, nor within the policy of my department. The LVNR is a technique that we may use (Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint). It’s frustrating when folks say to ban “choke holds” locally, because that just shows what little they know about the department that serves them. When the LVNR is done properly, this is very effective.

3) There are times when state leaders will make laws or mandates that violate the constitution, such as the limitations on assembly and speech as seen in states like California and Michigan during the lockdowns, reports of students who take part in online classes with their parents guns in frame of their window being reported and police going to their homes, as if the student/student's family had committed some crime, or the McCloskey's having their home raided after defending their property from "protesters" who had broken into their private neighborhood. These state actions and policing behaviors seem to directly violate the duty to serve the law abiding people due to political motives telling officers what to do. So, I want to ask, what will happen to an officer who ignores or defies such orders? Is there any peer pressure to enforce these political judgements that seem to violate the rights of citizens? Do you believe that police have a duty to defy orders that attempt to violate citizens rights? Have you personally ever had to deal with such an incident?

GH: I haven’t been in that kind of situation so far, so I can’t really give you a good answer on that.

4) Are you having a good day, and what can we do to help make it that little bit better?

GH: Today is a good day. It’s my Friday and I’m going home unharmed. Words and actions of support are always welcomed. Today, at a hospital, a nurse told me “thanks for being a warrior”. While I don’t consider myself a “warrior” I very much appreciated her words.

5) What can the public do to help ease the strain on law enforcement?

GH: That’s a tough one. So many folks are spreading falsehoods about law enforcement. We have to treat these stories the same way we would petty gossip: don’t repeat it, don’t accept it, until you know the facts. Sadly, the fools we are dealing with don’t seem to care about facts anyway. (sigh)

6) Does knowing citizens might be more likely to carry a weapon to protect themselves during times like these add or relieve stress when on duty?

GH: The mindset of citizens being armed is always something to consider. This is naturally an everyday stress. Unfortunately, the larger worry for police today is the threat of being straight up ambushed. So that’s the main thing we’re mindful of.

7) After the George Floyd incident many people who defended law enforcement, like Jocko Willink for example, said most police departments don’t train under stressful conditions often enough. Jocko talks about his time in the military and the training they constantly went through to build muscle memory and faster reflexes in stressful situations they might see in the field. Do you think most police departments (not necessarily yours) need more frequent field training?

GH: What I’d say to anyone who doesn’t think we train enough: go through our 7-month academy and field training. Or, at least do rides-alongs with each shift and zone. It’s so easy to “Police” from your keyboard or your couch. Once the academy is done, training never stops. We are constantly learning. If someone thinks they know everything about policing, perhaps they should change careers and give it a try.

8) Going off the previous question, with the call to defund the police, is that going to create a larger barrier to field training?

GH: The “defund” demand would create an issue much larger than limiting our field training. It would pretty much make us a patrol-only/glorified reporter department. Meaning, no support units, less detectives to work your case (if any), and decades trying to build our numbers back up. The same people crying to defund us are the same who complain about our response times. As I said, they don’t seem to understand facts.

9) Do you believe the public rebranding of police forces as racist gangs accountable to no one will result in more police recruits who have bad intentions because they think they can get away with it? Basically, will branding law enforcement as racist attract racist people to join law enforcement?

GH: I don’t. I’m not sure how the recruiting and hiring process might change, but as it stands, it is very demanding. So no, I wouldn’t see something like that happening.

10) You’ve mentioned to me the issues you’ve witnessed with your City Council, including some really confusing and counterproductive policy initiatives they’re pursuing. I was wondering if you could please expand on these issues, the potential corruption you see in your local government, and perhaps why some of these policies are being pursued?Are there good arguments for any of these policies, and if so, what are they? How are your fellow officers responding to this, and do you see any hope for policy reversals?

GH: What I’ve shared with you is about the extent of my knowledge. From what’s happened this year, if there’s been something they want done, they create ordinances so they can get around any real levels of scrutiny. It’s very frustrating, and ties our hands. We hear the frustrations of the citizens, but again, our hands are tied. I know citizens write to the council and mayor, but I don’t see that doing any good. They’re writing to the person who is doing what they are unhappy with.

11) We’ve seen an extremely worrying trend of cities seeking to prosecute officers for apparent political reasons, despite all evidence indicating no wrongdoing on the part of the officers. How has this troubling trend impacted the way you do your job, or your fellow law enforcement officers?

GH: It makes you think a lot. Instead of just being able to handle a call, how you were trained, it’s hard not to instead think about “what would the prosecutor do” or the media say, etc. The resignation numbers are rapidly increasing because so many feel it’s not worth it anymore. There’s so little respect for us anymore. With each call, decisions have to be made within seconds -maybe less. Now, with prosecutors and media waiting for an action or decision to be made that they don’t agree with, to then blast across the media... that could make an officer take longer to make an actual life and death decision. For simply doing their job! We just want to do our job; be a solution to the problem on your worst day - which is when we are called. Citizen’s worst day: from the loss of a loved one, serious injury, trauma, etc. At the end of the day, it’s frustrating to try to not worry about what you can’t control, even when it effects your day-to-day and future. With this, I just hope that the courts will put these prosecutors in their place, and hopefully show everyone how foolish the media has been.

Here's the article she wanted me to share with you all. It's definitely worth reading:

https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/colorado-police-lieutenant-resigns-after-20-years-blames-city-council-lack-of-respect-for-the-occupation/