John Marx was a Police Officer for twenty-three years and served as a Hostage Negotiator for nineteen of those years. He worked as a patrol officer, media liaison officer, crime prevention officer and burglary detective. Also during his career he served as administrator of his city's Community Oriented Governance initiative through the police department's Community Policing project. Today John combines his skills to consult with businesses about improving both their security and their customer service programs. John retired from law enforcement in 2002. When one of his friends, also a former police officer, committed suicide at age 38, John was devastated and began researching the problems that stress creates for police officers. He decided he needed to do something to help change those problems and he wanted to give something back to the profession that gave him so much. He started a project that has evolved into CopsAlive.com. Put simply, the mission of CopsAlive is to save the lives of those who save lives! CopsAlive.com gathers information, strategies and tools to help law enforcement professionals plan for happy, healthy and successful careers, relationships and lives.
Have you ever wanted to connect with other law enforcement professionals online?
Here is an opportunity for you. We have been informed of a new list of 40 online forums that are appropriate for law enforcement professionals. The list includes forums especially for law enforcement officers, forums for military personnel, some geared toward lawyers and forums written for people looking for law enforcement jobs.
The list was prepared by www.criminaljusticedegree.com a website dedicated to providing students with the information and tools needed in order to pursue their Criminal Justice Degree. Criminal Justice Degree is the only website dedicated to listing and linking to every accredited criminal justice program available in the US.
For five years now CopsAlive.com has been promoting the concept of building a business on the internet, as opposed to moonlighting or working a second job, as an alternative for law enforcement officers to earn extra income. Each year in January we host a group of police officers as part of a larger group of internet marketing experts on a cruise through the Caribbean Sea. We are doing so again this coming January but haven’t really done much to promote it. We enjoy learning from all the others on the trip but we also like visiting the ports and enjoying the fun in the sun too, so we didn’t really promote next year’s cruise. However, they are making their last call for reservations so we decided to mention it once more to see if any of you want to join us. In addition to joining some fellow law enforcement officers you can choose to be part of an 8-day mastermind and networking vacation that brings together hundreds of the brightest internet marketing minds on the planet!
In the past, world class thought-leaders like Robert Allen, Rich Scheferen, Matt Bacak, Kevin Wilke,Howie Schwartz, Brad Fallon and many other top names have joined Mike Filsaime, me and my friends for this adventure of a lifetime that happens every January.
This is YOUR invitation to join the elite VIP Guest List for our upcoming cruise that is already 80% booked with more than 300 amazing… Continue reading
Galls, The Authority in Public Safety Equipment and Apparel has named CopsAlive.com one of the “7 Must Read Law Enforcement Blogs”.
They have said that “Across the internet, there are a tremendous amount of Law Enforcement Blogs that focus on a wide variety of general and specific topics. Each blog has a different viewpoint and a different voice. And while the purpose of each blog is distinct, most are informative as well as entertaining. At Galls, we believe that fostering communication and sharing information help make law enforcement agencies – and the people who make up those agencies – better able to protect the communities that they serve.
CLICK HERE to see the 7 law enforcement blogs that we’ve discovered lately. We’ve enjoyed them and think each one has great value. We’d like to share them with you.”
CopsAlive is written to prompt discussions within our profession about the issues we cover on this blog site. We invite you to share your opinions in the Comment Box that is at the bottom of this article.
CopsAlive.com was founded to provide information and strategies to help police officers successfully survive their careers. We help law enforcement officers and their agencies prepare for the risks that threaten their existence.
We will help your agency create the kind of place that supports and protects officers so that they can do their jobs better, safer, longer and survive to tell their grand kids all about it.
We do this by Helping Law Enforcement professionals plan for happy, healthy and successful lives on the job and beyond. We think the best strategy is for each officer to create a tactical plan for their own life and career. We call this Tactical Wellness planning.
The Law Enforcement Survival Institute (LESI) works with individuals and organizations to help them create and sustain success in their lives and careers as law enforcement professionals. It is the primary goal of The Law Enforcement Survival Institute to become the preeminent source for law enforcement training, resources and information about how to create and sustain a happy, healthy and successful life and career while providing superior law enforcement service to your community.
At The Law Enforcement Survival Institute we train law enforcement officers to cope with stress and manage all the toxic effects and hidden dangers of a career in law enforcement. We provide stress management and stress reduction training as well as Tactical Wellness training for police officers and other law enforcement professionals.
CLICK HERE to read more about The Law Enforcement Survival Institute.
CLICK HERE if you would like to contact us to learn more about training for your organization.
I’m John Marx Founder of The Law Enforcement Survival Institute and the Editor of CopsAlive.com, connect with me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Editors Note: This is a guest article written by Anne Bisek, Psy.D. about the activities of the West Coast Posttrauma Retreat. They are trying to learn more about PTSD and how it affects law enforcement officers and other first responders. Please help them out by taking their online survey and maybe referring someone you know to them for assistance.
Pedro sat in front of his computer, when Jay snuck up from behind him with a can of jalapeño flavored jelly beans.
“What the –?” Pedro gasped.
Jay laughed. “You gotta try one of these. Hey, what are you doing? That looks like Survey Monkey.”
Pedro grabbed the jar away from his colleague, a veteran of the police department for 9 years. “You are going to hurt someone with that.”
Inside, Pedro breathed a sigh of relief. This was the first halfhearted attempt at a practical joke he had seen from his friend in months. Since the last SIDS call, Jay had lost his usual spunk, and was less interested in the banter at the office.
“Yes, this is Survey Monkey. I am filling out a questionnaire for a group called the West Coast Posttrauma Retreat. They are developing a new questionnaire for PTSD because the current ones are normed on civilians and don’t fit us cops.”
“So you have PTSD?” Jay asked hesitantly.
“That is not the point. WCPR needs a lot of cops to fill this out because what is normal to us isn’t normal to the general population. The measure will also be able to… Continue reading
The issues of fatigue and poor sleep quality are become more and more important to effective law enforcement management. Police managers, supervisors and officers, need to be aware of the issues and liabilities that surround officers who are fatigued at work, and how that might affect their job performance. Individual officers need to be responsible for insuring that they are properly rested and ready for work. Effective stress management and proper sleep habits work hand in hand and law enforcement professional need to know how to care for themselves as well as they care for their communities.
In his article “Sleep Deprivation: What Does It Mean for Public Safety Officers?”, written for the National Institute of Justice Office of Justice Programs, Brian Vila, Ph.D. cited that
“More than 90 percent report being routinely fatigued, and 85 percent report driving while drowsy.” He also suggested that “Sleep deprivation is dangerous. Researchers have shown that being awake for 19 hours produces impairments that are comparable to… Continue reading
Today is National PTSD Awareness Day in the United States and should be a call to action for law enforcement to begin discussions about PTSD within our organizations, and begin the processes needed to manage and treat this disorder which plagues so many within our ranks.
Many law enforcement officers, many members of the armed forces, women and children who have been victimized and many many other people around the country and the world suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and we… Continue reading
Safe Call Now the crisis hotline for cops and first responders and Hazelden Treatment Centers are sponsoring a symposium on “First Responders – PTSD and Addiction” in Bellevue Washington on June 10th.
Learn from leading experts as they address issues surrounding PTSD and addiction problems among public safety and emergency services employees. Key topics include addressing the matters that impact… Continue reading
As police officers, we talk a lot about being warriors. We’ve all heard members of the military talk about being warriors, but even other people describe themselves as “road warriors” or “weekend warriors”. Everyone from nurses to stock brokers describe themselves as “warriors” and you can even find a warrior diet, and a website where they list warrior names for baby’s.
There are warrior books, warrior companies, warrior games, warrior trucks and even warrior cats. I guess if you are a warrior, you know what you are.
Maybe the word is a little over used, or maybe we need to define ourselves as warriors, in the context of law enforcement.
As law enforcement officers, we certainly can describe ourselves as warriors because at times we may have to enter into a fight to the death, and many times our lives are threatened during the normal course of a day, but is that the whole picture?
I don’t think so. I think we define ourselves as warriors because of what the word symbolizes about our approach to life, work and the world around us. Does it mean that we are always at war? No, it means that we are always prepared to deal with violence if it comes to us, or the communities we protect. More importantly… Continue reading
Editors Note: I received this email from Keith Gilman and it speaks for itself:
Hey John,
I’m a police officer in the Philadelphia area. My first book is now out in Trade Paperback. It’s called “Father’s Day”. It’s a detective novel set in Philly. Makes a great Father’s Day gift for cops and their families. I’m hoping for a lot of support from law enforcement and I am donating a percentage of the book sales to Police Survivors. Hope you’ll help me spread the word to your many colleagues and associates. Please do visit my website at www.keithgilman.com and order at Amazon.com
Many thanks to the women of 
As police officers, we talk a lot about being warriors. We’ve all heard members of the military talk about being warriors, but even other people describe themselves as “road warriors” or “weekend warriors”. Everyone from nurses to stock brokers describe themselves as “warriors” and you can even find a 
Editors Note: I received this email from Keith Gilman and it speaks for itself:
