27Oct05 Caught in the nick of time: "Our department recently purchased G22s. Today, I received from Glock NY1 Trigger inserts with instruction from our chief to install them on all department pistols. One of our deputies dutifully came into the armory in order to have the part installed. She was in uniform and in the middle of her shift. I asked her to remove her pistol from its holster and hand it to me. As I 'unloaded' it, I discovered it was already unloaded! She then informed me, 'Oh, the pistol isn't loaded. I shot all my bullets up last week during training.' Trying to retain my composure, I asked her if she saw a problem with this! She sheepishly told me that she was too 'embarrassed' to ask for replacement, duty ammunition! As supervisors, with all our coaching and directing, we obviously sometimes fail to note philosophical gulfs in our charges. What followed was yet another half-hour lecture on the nature of police work and this young officer's role and responsibilities in it. I sincerely hope I 'got to' her this time, albeit late!" Comment: Supervisors have to be watching all the time, as many of our young officers are naive and, dare I say, adolescent. We need to see to it that they live long enough to be able to laugh someday about their youthful ignorance! /John

27Oct05

Ancient Greeks called it "Nomina," the inherent knowledge of the difference between right and wrong that dwells in the heart of every good man, and is absent from the hearts of most bad ones. Socrates put it,

"Do we really need all these laws to show us the right way? Don =99t we, as men of honor, just KNOW these things?"

Euripides chimed in,

"Nomina's proper observance holds together all human communi ties."

The decline of every civilization is associated with the fading of Nomina from the hearts of citizens. This is why Seneca, centuries after Socrates, was compelled to write,

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws."

He saw the handwriting on the wall. Good and honorable men have no need of

a superfluity of dreary laws to define the obvious.

The "cultural conflict" we observe today in Western Civiliza tion is not a " war on custom" or even a "war on poverty.=80=9D It is a war on decency, decency that stems from human dignity. It is not just that fact that evil men exis t and delight in making a mockery of every form of decency. The troubling si gn is that such men are considered "cute" and =80=9Ctrendy, " that their disgusting behavior is not only tolerated but naively integrated into the fabric of mainstream society. These days, such men even win national elections and a re influential in mainstream, political parties.

Thoughts translate into action. Actions become habits. Habits delineate character. Character defines a destiny. While it exists, Nomina protects us all. We abandon it at our peril!

/John