Locard’s principle: a perpetrator of a crime will bring something into the crime scene and leave with something from it.
But this principle, “Every contact leaves a trace,” applies not only to an investigating police officer but also to the fact that individual, interpersonal “contacts” can leave traces, both good and bad, upon people as a result of those interactions; therefore, this principle can apply to both forensics and police-community relations — the building of trust, and officer health and wellness.
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. After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. After 25 years leading two Episcopal Churches in Portage and North Lake, Wisconsin, I now serve as Associate Pastor in a growing, dynamic, and Spirit-filled Lutheran congregation in nearby Mazomanie.
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Improving Police: A Necessary Conversation 
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