Author: David Couper

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 almost 30 years serving in and leading two Episcopal Churches in the Diocese of Milwaukee, I am "sort-of" in the process of retirement. Life is good.

Officer, Are You World-Class? Is Your Department?

Pursuing excellence, or being the best you can be, should be something every police officer should aspire. Being a representative … More

International Policing

Thanks to police and community leaders from the following countries throughout the world. Improving police is an important international quest! … More

When Police Education Fails

If the mission of police education is to prepare students to be liberally (broadly) educated, intellectually mature, ethically aware, and … More

Let’s Get Serious About Training Police Leaders

Having spent three decades in this field — and most of them as a leader — let me say this: … More

What Police Can Learn From Business and Industry

Sometimes it takes more courage to bring a new idea into the police station than responding to a “shots fired” … More

Poetic Policing

You might wonder why I would compose a book of poetry so late in life. It is because I see … More

Hard v. Soft Policing?

I am beginning to wonder if the problem confronting police and citizens in America is not a problem of “hard” … More

If Asia Can, Why Can’t We?

https://boingboing.net/2019/01/21/using-pikes-to-confront-and-im.html “Let’s think about ways to handle these incidents without having to use deadly force!” I ran across the above … More

Uses of Force: A Much-Needed Discussion

It’s about time cops sit down with each other and start a serious discussion about reducing the uses of deadly … More

An American Looks at European Police — 1971

“Long periods of pre-service training, great concern about individual freedom, less concern over enforcement of public morality, strict controls over … More