Plenty of things have changed in the twenty-five years since I first walked through the doors of the police academy. I’m older, of course, and hopefully a bit wiser.

But my footspeed is, well, let’s just say it ain’t what it used to be.

Being on the downhill slope to fifty will do that to a person, as will an accumulation of injuries from sports played well past an “athlete’s” expiration. At least that’s what my orthopedic surgeon keeps telling me. Repeatedly.

But I remember when I used to be pretty fast.

When a suspect turned and bolted, a spike …

Read more »

My best friend in college, Greg, was a pretty impressive guy. Besides a wicked sense of humor, he was bright, athletic and fearless. He could have done just about anything.

He chose to be a Marine Corps aviator.

Greg and I parted ways after college when he set out to fulfill that dream. He called me a couple of years later and told me he had graduated second in his flight school class. I told him I was surprised that somebody finally beat him at something.

I was actually proud of Greg’s achievement and excited to learn that his new …

Read more »

I was a cyclist long before I first heard the name, Lance Armstrong. Yet it was the buzz around this single-minded Texan that lured me, and thousands of others, into watching the Tour de France, the penultimate race of a sport most Americans thought of only as exercise.

As Armstrong’s trips to the podium miraculously continued, we reveled not only in his success but in the backstory: raised poor by a single mom; found a passion for cycling; diagnosed, treated and defeated aggressive cancer; began a legacy as Tour de France winner and celebrity philanthropist.

It was a story Lance …

Read more »

Since 2013 started (was it only two weeks ago?), it seems I’ve already managed to anger the hordes. Turns out that where guns are involved, there is no room for a calm, much less civil, debate. Add to that marijuana. And presidential politics.

2012 was a difficult year. What with the election, the economy and all the insane violence, it’s no wonder we’re all on edge. So, before we start the new year off on the wrong foot, let’s talk about something else.

What topic? I’m open to suggestions, though I did put together a quick list. Think of these …

Read more »

Year end reviews are a time-honored tradition in print journalism. Looking back on the year’s crime stories may not match the feel-good quality of other reviews, but it may highlight our progress on the many challenges we have faced. And vice versa.

So, here is a laundry list of the most popular topics addressed in Blue Byline this past year (based on site visits and commentary).

January: We began the year with the steamy topic of marijuana legislation. The state legislature was under a great deal of pressure to fix the gaping, truck-sized holes in the then current statute, and …

Read more »

Consider the many events and issues that pushed us all apart during the last few months: a presidential election; several polarizing votes on such measures as gay marriage and legalized marijuana, to name but two; a grinding foreign war that no one would have imagined we’d still be waging more than ten years later; the random killing of innocents that sparked an ongoing verbal slugfest on gun control.

How would one describe this contentious period? As a hockey player, the only metaphor that fits is a benches-clearing brawl.

Ironically, this became more evident while …

Read more »

In my former police department the television in the break room, like the police officers themselves, worked 24/7. Sporting events, sitcoms, even nature shows were acceptable programming, but when someone switched over to one of those loud political commentary channels (MSNBC, Fox News, take your pick) I headed for the door.

It’s not that I don’t care about politics. The problem is that when we restrict ourselves by partisanship – red or blue, conservative or liberal –  our voting choices become too narrow, too divisive. Selecting a candidate by the qualifier (R) or (D) is also no guarantee that the …

Read more »

While on a bike ride across the Narrows bridge this morning my eyes drifted up from the pavement to a sign on the eastern shoreline. It was one I’ve seen hundreds of times and it read, “Tacoma – All American City” (or something like that – my brain was in vapor lock). For some reason I always failed to notice that there were numbers underneath those words: “1998  1984  1956″.

Instead of thinking, “Wow, Tacoma was an All American City three times?” I actually thought, “Wow, Tacoma was an All American City only three times in the last 56 years …

Read more »

The lunch room in my station is the place where pecking order usually takes a back seat to comraderie. The idle chit chat is a lifeline that keeps us afloat, especially given the stresses that exist on the other side of the doorway. I often listen (and sometimes suffer) the opinions of my co-workers on a variety of topics: politics, food, kids’ sports, romance and movies.

And, best of all, I make a point of listening with my elbow on an actual water cooler.

Which leads me to my first installment of choir practice, a series devoted to matters far …

Read more »

A few months ago I was in my editor’s office shooting the breeze. We were having a lively discussion about some of the topics I had raised in this column, as well as some of the ideas I had for the future. After I finally exhausted all the possibilities, he gave me a frank look.

“You know,” he said, “you don’t always have to write about police work.”

“Sure,” I said, though I didn’t really mean it.

The reason for my lip service was simple. Though I have been writing in some capacity for The News Tribune and The Peninsula …

Read more »