Nov 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 11

FROM THE EDITOR-AT-LARGE
TCOLE 2023
Well over a thousand cops
have just returned from the
annual TCOLE Training Conference
in Corpus Christi. (One
of my personal favorite spots
in Texas-very laid back and
lots of good food)
The 2023 conference was
a bit better than in previous
years. We weren’t standing in
endless lines being bar coded
in and out of classes. This
year, at the end of each class,
a bar code was displayed on
the screen, and we all raised
our phones like at a Willie
Nelson concert and “click”, we
were on the road again.
As for the subject matter, I
have to say I was a bit disappointed
that there wasn’t more
open dialogue from TCOLE,
especially with so many
Chiefs in attendance. I thought
for sure we would discuss
upcoming expectations, rules
and or at least changes from
TCOLE. Flip side, we did get to
see the Commission’s Board
of Directors conduct an actual
Business Meeting, which
was pretty cool. Except for the
part whereby an elected Texas
Sheriff was a bit belittled in
front of a whole lot of people.
Most in attendance thought
that was in pretty poor taste
8 The BLUES
of the Board to put the Sheriff
out there like that. But hey, we
did get to see how the Board
functions and their thought
processes when dealing with
Law Enforcement leadership.
So, there’s that.
The Vendors…Lots of cool
stuff. Lots of new Vendors
who were pretty friendly this
time. (Sometimes, they’re not
such a fun-loving crowd. But
this time, they were all nice)
As for all the “stuff” they had
for sale. I don’t know who or
what Department can afford
all those amazing things, I just
know, where I’m at, we can’t
afford any of them. There is
some amazing technology out
there though, that can seriously
reduce the risk of injury
to our Officers. At a cost of
course.
Also, for the Vendors, they
are only there to what equates
to about a day and a half.
That’s it. So, if you do find
something you’re seriously
interested in, you better have
some really fast dialogue
because they are all gone
by the end of day two of the
four-day conference. Perhaps
TCOLE might add an additional
day for vendors to allow
more floor time and give them
CHIEF REX EVANS
additional time to sell their
wares.
Now to a very important
part of any conference - the
people and the food. The
people were great. Corpus
Christi NEVER disappoints.
The service was excellent and
the food…OMG. Whether it
was seafood, Tex-Mex or even
Italian, it was absolutely on
point. The group I ran with (all
awesome people by the way)
ate mostly at a little place
called U & I. This is an older,
well-established restaurant
which was directly behind our
hotel, which was also very
convenient. I can honestly say,
no matter where I’ve dined in
Corpus, I’ve never had a bad
experience.
Last take away and perhaps
the most important. FINALLY,
the conference was a buzz
with classes and honest dialogue
about a critical problem
affecting ALL Law Enforcement