Michael Burgess

Staffing shortages are real. Limited budgets are real. Limited resources are real. Across the country, law enforcement agencies of every size are feeling it. Large agencies, small agencies, suburban departments, rural departments, county agencies, and mid-sized departments are all dealing with it in different ways. Some are stretching shifts. Some are relying heavily on overtime. Some are struggling to recruit and retain officers. Some are doing everything they can just to keep cars on the...

“Real public safety begins when we care enough to see harm before it happens — and accept that preventing it belongs to all of us.” This quote reflects much of what I have come to believe through my experience, education, and real-world view of public safety. Too often, when people hear “public safety,” they immediately think of law enforcement. And make no mistake, law enforcement plays an incredibly important and necessary role. Police officers respond to danger, protect victims,...

By Inv./Sgt. Michael S. Burgess, M.S.S. (ret.) Toxicity inside a police agency rarely starts as an official policy problem. More often, it starts in the places leadership does not always see: the squad room, the report room, the parking lot, text threads, ride-alongs, social circles, side conversations, and the quiet moments between calls. It can come from a senior officer who has become cynical. It can come from an FTO who teaches new officers to distrust every initiative before they fully...