“Amazingly well done (as usual) you tackled a difficult topic for cops — we want cheerleaders and not leaders who may call us to reflect, confront our “shit” and then have the nobility and courage to improve that which we do. The same applies to our ranks. We need leaders who have the courage to challenge us and make us better people and better cops.”
I served over 20 years as the chief of police in Madison (WI), four years as chief of the Burnsville (MN) Police Department, and before that as a police officer in Edina (MN) and the City of Minneapolis. I hold graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Edgewood College in Madison. I have written many articles over my years as a police leader calling for police improvement (for example, How To Rate Your Local Police, and with my wife, Sabine, Quality Policing: The Madison Experience). After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. At the present time, I serve a small church in North Lake (WI), east of Madison. Sabine and I have nine adult children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She is also a retired police officer and we both continue active lives.
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Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 