The Sisyphus Comments

Don’t Call Us – We’ll Call You

Like the song says, its funny how time slips away. I can clearly remember discussing whether the National Do Not Call Registry would work a while back. The Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. You simply sign up on-line and most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days. If they do, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on the same website where you signed up for the list. You can register your home or mobile phone for free but your registration is only good for five years. Thus, the reason for this article.

If you were like me and you registered your telephone number shortly after the list became available, you are quickly coming up on the five year point. In order to continue to stop telemarketers from contacting you, you must re-register your telephone number. Trust me on this – the telecommunications system has changed dramatically over the last 5 years with the addition of Voice Over IP services like Skype and Vontage. It costs next to nothing for a telemarketer to call you – even from another country – so make sure your number doesn’t fall off the prohibited list due to inattention. Take a minute to register (or re-register) your telephone number with the list. It is quick, easy and free! Check it out!

CLICK HERE:

National Do Not Call Registry

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Easily Batch Rename File

Anyone that has worked with websites, file archives, or collections of music, videos, or pictures has probably spent way too much time renaming hundreds of files.

Rename Master is a utility for renaming large groups of files with a few clicks. It will easily add, remove, or replace parts of the filename and supports renaming via file properties, MP3 tags, JPEG JFIF and EXIF tags. Did I mention that its FREE (as in beer)? Check it out.

CLICK HERE:

Rename Master

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What I Learned On My Summer Vacation

My wife, Wanda, and I just completed our 25th wedding anniversary tour of Europe and, although we didn’t bring home a bunch of souvenirs, we did bring home memories that will last a lifetime. However, don’t get the impression that I’m some kind of a world traveler. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I took a vacation that lasted more than 3 or 4 days so I wasn’t initially really that enthused about going to Europe.

I am a typical American and I firmly believe that we have the greatest county in the world so I questioned the benefit of going through the hassles of flying to Europe. However, after 25 years of putting up with me, my bride had definitely earned 10 days in the destination of her choice. In the end, I was happy that we went and I had the opportunity to visit places and see things that are truly unique to the European continent. You really get a different perspective on time when you visit Europe. While we are in the process of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown, they have 600 year old castles that they refer to as the “new” castles. However, I am not going to drone on about the castles, monuments and mountains but I did want to give you a couple of travel tips that your travel agent will probably not mention when you book your European dream vacation. So here we go:

1. Expect things to go wrong and don’t sweat it!
   • A few years ago I got conned into going to Disney World . . . two years in a row! I am not a big fan of crowds and, make no mistake, there were large crowds, or so I thought until we landed in London. I have never seen so many people on vacation at one time in my life and it seemed like they all spoke a different language. What really sucks is they could talk about us and we had no idea what they were saying but we couldn’t reciprocate since most of them also understood English. It took us over an hour to clear immigration at Heathrow Airport and then we waited another 90 minutes for our bus to arrive. It seems that we were fortunate enought to land at the same time as thousands of Boy Scouts from around the world who were in London for the World Scout Jamboree so buses were running a little short. Our bus eventually arrived but, as luck would have it, our hotel was at the end of the line.
   • By now it was close to 0900 hours and I had been up for over 24 hours so I was looking forward to a short nap before we ventured out. However, the desk clerk informed us that our room would not be ready until after 1400 hours. Fortunately, we found a sympathetic ear with the concierge, who found us a room but he very concerned about whether we would be offended by the art work on the walls. He actually walked us to the room so we could see the portrait of a little girl holding a dog before we accepted the room. The only thing I wanted to look at was the back of my eyelids so we happily accepted the room – which was actually an upgrade. All is well that ends well.
2. Wear comfortable shoes.
   • We were very daring and, after a lot of shopping, settled on wearing Chaco Z2 sandals. Now I realize that some of you may have no idea what Chacos look like and, once you see them, you will be saying “no way” but they worked great for us (Go ahead and click on the link to see the Chacos – I’ll wait on you). We probably walked 5 or 6 miles on some days and the Chacos were great. They were also easy to remove when we went through airport security, which by the way, we only had to do in the United States. The airports in London and Paris did not make travelers remove their shoes during the security screening. However, if sandals don’t do it for you, take a comfortable pair of running or walking shoes. We also took our running shoes along but we never wore them.
3. Take a wash cloth.
   • That’s right, if you use a wash cloth when you shower, take one with you. About half of the hotels we stayed at did not provide wash cloths, although one hotel did bring us a couple when we requested them. Apparently, in many European countries they use a sponge to shower and they take it with them when they travel. Bar soap was not guaranteed either so if you don’t care for shower gels, bring your own soap.

4. Take a variety of clothes.
   • We researched the average temperature for the areas that we planned to visit before we left and packed accordingly. I took four pairs of walking shorts and, due to the unseasonably low temperatures, they were just barely comfortable, particularly in the evening. You have to be prepared for fairly rapid temperature and weather fluctuations. We went on a two hour walk along the River Thames in London and the temperature went from hot to cool and we experienced sunshine, clouds, misty rain and heavy rain. We took along a lightweight, hooded Marmot rain shell and it worked well. However, in the future I would also take along a lightweight Northface fleece pullover jacket. The fleece is warm, wisks away moisture, packs well and doesn’t wrinkle and looks good with a variety of clothes.

5. Take a neck collar pad.
   • The flight from Washington, DC to London took nearly 8 hours and we flew at night. If you are fortunate, you will get a window seat so you can lean against the side of the plane to sleep. Unfortunately, the odds are you will be in a center or aisle seat so you will be trying to sleep while sitting in a semi-reclined position. I had a lot of difficulty sleeping in this position on both the airplane and on the tour bus. I notice several people (more seasoned travelers than I) were using cushioned neck collars that prevented that whiplash effect when your head drops off to the side. I never did buy one and I ended up with a stiff neck almost every time I took a nap while in transit.

6. Take some non-prescription medications.
   • There is nothing worse than having a headache and not having any medication to take. Make sure you have some ibuprofen or acetaminophen in your carry-on bag. I also caught a cold just before I left and it got worse over the first few days of our trip. I needed some cough medicine and we got lucky in Heidelberg, Germany where we found a pharmacy and a pharmacist who spoke great English. When we visited another pharmacy in Lucerne, Switzerland to buy a decongestant, I wasn’t nearly as confident that we had communicated effectively. For all I know I could have been taking birth control pills for the next few days. The moral of the story is make sure you pack some non-prescription medicine in your luggage in case you develop a cold or cough while on the trip. Apparently, it is not uncommon to contract a cold while on the airplane or bus where the air is a bit stagnant. I’m guessing I probably passed my bug on to a few people during the first few days.

7. Exchange some money before you leave.
   • The adoption of the Euro as the standard form of currency in most of Europe has made travel a little easier but England and Switzerland are not part of the European Union. If you plan your trip well in advance, start watching the exchange rates for the dollar. The rate fluctuates significantly so you can save a good deal of money by exchanging money at your bank before you leave. We used our Capital One credit card for most of our purchases and they automatically handle the exchange at no additional fee. However, we were told that many credit card companies charge a fee to for this service. It is also nice to have some local money when you arrive in a new country so that you can tip for the initial services that you receive. We were never able to locate the concierge who helped us out in London to give him a tip once we exchanged our money. By the way, the Swiss accepted almost any type money. Their motto is “money is money.” Try to avoid using ATM machines to get money since they assess a heavy fee for the service. The worst we heard about was a $10 dollar fee for a the equivalent of $10 dollar withdraw.

8. Take an iPod.
   • I took my 30 gig iPod loaded with my calendar, address book, podcasts, music and several audiobooks. It was nice to be able to put the ear phones on and block out the noise on the airplane and bus.

9. Take electrical converters.
   • Most of Europe uses 220 volt electrical outlets so you will need a converter to plug in your electrical appliances to charge your iPod, camera etc. Every country that we visited had a different outlet so you will need to take a complete set. We got our set at Walmart and they worked in every country.

10. Leave your cell phone and computer at home.
    • You need a world cell phone to make calls in Europe and they are expensive. We used a phone card to check in with our son one time. Other than that, we had no need for a telephone. I didn’t take my computer and I was glad I hadn’t since that would have been one more thing to worry about being stolen. Although, it would have been nice to be able to download our pictures, I just bought a second 2 gb memory card for my camera but I only used one.

11. No good deed goes unpunished.
    • After traveling to several countries, I have come to the conclusion that we should stick with freedom fries. Of all the countries we visited, France was the most unfriendly to English speaking people. They also get kind of peeved when you don’t want to drink wine with your meal. We enjoyed Paris and the sights but we found the Parisians to be the least accommodating hosts of all the countries we visited. i guess all those monuments to England and the US were erected at a time when the French were appreciative of the American lives that were lost to liberate them during world war II. Just a thought.

12. Get a passport now.
    • If you think you will ever travel outside of the United States, apply for your passport now. You even need a passport to visit Canada now. There were reports that the process in taking nearly 10 months now due to the increased demand. A passport is good for 10 years and you can use it as long as it has 6 months or more left before it expires. You can download the application from the U.S. State Department website. Once you have completed the application, contact your local post office to make an appointment to have your picture taken and complete the application process. Take about $100 with you to cover the part of the fee that they will not let you charge.

These are just a few tips from a neophyte traveler so you can take them or leave them. Although I would never have scheduled this trip on my own, I am very happy that I had the opportunity to experience Europe at least once in my life. I just wish I could have done it while I was still in school so that I would have had something to write when my English teacher asked me to write an essay about what I had done on my summer vacation. Baling hay and shoveling manure never seemed to impress them.

Posted in General Interest | 2 Comments »

Website: Personal Financial Planning

Face it, cops don’t make boat loads of money so it is very important that we learn to manage our money effectively. Unfortunately, most of us can’t afford to hire a professional financial planner so a little self-directed learning can make a big difference. UC Irvine has developed a fantastic on-line course entitled Personal Financial Planning. This course is not intended to be a brief course so don’t expect to knock it out in an evening or even a weekend. If you want to work through the whole course, expect it to take two to three weeks. Trying to do more than one module in an evening will be tough – in fact it may take a couple evenings just to complete one lesson.

You are probably looking at about 25 to 30 hours to complete the entire course. Of course, there is no requirement to do the full course. There are no tests and you don’t even get a certificate when you complete the course. Your reward will be much more significant than a piece of paper. You may just end up with enough money to send your kid to college or retire comfortably. You can’t beat the price, its FREE (as in beer). Check it out.

CLICK HERE:

Personal Financial Planning

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VML Brief Cases – Summer 2007

Rusty McGuire provides us with more analysis of recently decided court cases. Take a minute to review the Brief Cases file attached to this post.

CLICK HERE:

VML Brief Cases – Summer 2007

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Clean Up Those Browser Favorites and Bookmarks

If you spend much time surfing the web, you probably have learned to bookmark the websites that interest you so you don’t have to hunt them down a second time. Unfortunately, after a period of time your Favorites and Bookmarks lists can become bloated with duplicate links or useless links that are no longer available. If you are ready to clean up your browser’s Favorites and Bookmarks, I have a great little program that will help you out and it works with both Firefox and Internet Explorer.

The name of the program is AM-Deadlink and, in addition to be a great little clean up tool, its FREE (as in beer)! Check it out.

CLICK HERE:

Download AM-Deadlink

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Do You Hear Me Now?

As a criminal justice officer, you have qualified and re-qualified with your firearm many times, participated in pursuit driving with the siren blaring and done many other activities that could have potentially damaged your hearing. Take a minute to visit the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s website to learn about hearing loss. You can take a quick hearing test to determine whether you should see a professional audiologist. If your hearing is fine, take a few minutes to read some of the articles on the site so you can help prevent hearing loss.

CLICK HERE:

American Speech Language Hearing Association

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Website: Switching From Windows

If you have been reading The Sisyphus Comments for any length of time, you know that I have used a Mac as my primary computer for several years. I recently purchased a new MacBook so that I could keep pace with my wife and son who have been using a MacBook since shortly after the new Intel based computers hit the market. I can definitely say that the MacBook in the nicest computer I have ever owned and it easily handles all of my computing tasks . . . plus some! One of the first software programs that I purchased was the Parallels Desktop for the Mac ($79). The Parallels website explains it best:

“Parallels Desktop for Mac enables you to run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. With Parallels’ award-winning virtualization technology, you can run Mac OS X and your favorite Windows applications at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops!

As you can tell, I am definitely sold on the Mac and, as an added bonus, I don’t worry about all those nasty Windows viruses and spyware. If you are thinking about buying your first Mac, or even if you are just a bit curious, I have a great website to help you make your decision. Check it out!

CLICK HERE:

My First Mac – Help Buying and Getting Started With Your New Mac

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Let’s Make A Deal

Numerous books have been written about the art of successful negotiation since the 1970s when, Roger Fisher and William Ury published “Getting to YES” that introduced the win-win or mutual gains bargaining. The mutual gains approach has been effectively applied to community policing where the principles are framed as “problem solving”. Like so many business principles, the experts and academics tend to take a very simple concept and do their best to make it as complicated as possible. I wonder why that is – job security perhaps?

Actually, cops make really good negotiators as a result of their experience on the job. Even the most wet behind the ears rookie officer quickly learns that the domestic disturbance that they are trying to defuse did not start because the husband squeezed the toothpaste in the center of the tube. If an officer is going to be an effective mediator, he needs to develop the ability to wade through the symptoms and identify the problem. It is also a good idea to be armed with the right information when you arrive on the scene. Is there a history of domestic incidents at the address? Did the previous incidents involve physical violence? Are there guns in the residence? Finally, an officer has to develop the ability to quickly size-up the players and figure out how to satisfy their interests – or if it is possible to satisfy them. These are the very same abilities that a great negotiator must develop.

Regardless of what you are negotiating, the first step is to do your homework. Like they say in the financial world, the best predictor of future performance is past performance so do some research into your adversary’s past negotiating practices. Is money his primary motivator or is it all about ego? Are you dealing with a “win at all cost” negotiator or a person that likes to compromise and quickly cut a deal. Are you actually meeting with the decision-maker or are they going to try to utilize the “used car” method of having to get approval from the boss. In addition to the checking out the people with whom you will be meeting, do some research on the organization that they represent. Fire up Google and see what you can find.

The next step sounds easy but, depending on the nature of the negotiation, it may prove a little more challenging than you might think. Socrates’ guiding rule was, “Know Thyself” and this is good advice for you to follow if you are going to be successful as a negotiator. You have to do a little self analysis and try to figure out what you expect to get from the negotiation. I’m not talking about what you “would like to get” from the negotiation – I’m talking bottom line here. What do you absolutely have to get from this deal.

Once you figure out what you want from the deal, you need to determine what you are willing to put on the table. What are you willing give up in order to get what you want?

Once you have completed this thorough self analysis, the really hard part starts. Now you have to try to figure out what the other guy wants – not what he initially says he wants but what he really wants. You may get lucky and discover some clues during your initial research but your best tool will probably your communication skills. In order to assess your adversary and determine what it will take to close the deal, you must pay careful attention to both his spoken words and his body language. This can be easier said than done particularly if your adversary is a seasoned negotiator.

Finally, now that you have figured out what you want and what the other guy wants, all you have to do is create a win-win outcome so that everyone can walk away from the table happy – or at least not unhappy. Obviously, not every negotiation is go smoothly but following these five simple steps will serve as a good foundation for any negotiation, regardless of the sophistication of the deal.

If you found this article useful or would like to add something to the discussion, take a minute to click on the “Comments” link below and leave your comment.

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Hiding Rows And Columns In Excel

At the academy, we use an “electronic grade-book” which is really nothing more than a spreadsheet. Like most agencies, we also use a spreadsheet to develop our budget. When a spreadsheet is used for these purposes, normally more than one staff member is given editing privileges for the document. Of course, the spreadsheet designer must build in safeguards to protect formula cells from being accidentally overwritten. Although cell protection is one method for protecting cells, hiding cells is another option for concealing columns until you need them later. Hiding rows and columns is easy:

Method 1
– Select one or more row/column headings
– Right-click, and choose Hide

Method 2
– Select the row/column heading(s)
– Choose Format/Row (or Column)/Hide (Excel 2002/2003) or;
– Move to the Home tab (2007)
– In the Cells group choose the Format option and select Hide & Unhide from the drop-down menu.

Method 3
– Highlight a cell in each row or column you want to hide.
– Press Ctrl + 9 to hide the row(s) or press Ctrl + 0 (zero) to hide the column(s).
– Works in Excel 2002, 2003, and 2007

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Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and Group Projects

Many of you are aware that my son recently graduated from the University of Virginia (UVA). After five long years of study (long for us – much too short for him) he received his bachelors and master degrees. UVA, like most universities in Virginia, is a wonderful educational institution that strives to prepare our young men and women to successfully enter the workforce. Of course my son also had the added advantage of preparing for college by attending the City of Salem schools from fifth grade on.

In fact, it was during his middle school years that I began to notice an interesting trend that was carried on all the way through college – the group project. I always hated group projects when I was in school because my grade depended on someone else’s performance – or lack thereof. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of team work in achieving lofty goals. However, I always seemed to get teamed with one person that was more than willing to do what he was told but was incapable of making any type of contribution to the design or development of the project and one guy who just didn’t give a damn. Of course as a young man, my assertiveness skills were not fully developed so I always ended up doing the lion’s share of most of my group projects. I think that may be how one develops assertiveness skills – you get screwed so many times that you finally start standing up for yourself. What really stinks about group projects is the whole group gets the same grade – regardless of how much a given member contributed to the success of the project. Fortunately, life doesn’t work that way in most successful companies. In real life, the doers quickly move up and dullards are quickly moved out.

Another problem that I have with these group projects is the group is supposed to work closely with the teacher. They are encouraged to collectively discuss problems in an effort to arrive at a mutually agreeable solution. In the real life, your problem is – well – your problem. The boss already knows there is a problem and if she had a solution she wouldn’t have assigned the problem to you in the first place. Unlike your college professor, your boss is not getting paid to be an oracle. She has her own balls to try to keep in the air and she has other responsibilities besides serving as a source of wise counsel for you. Your job is to bring her solutions so, oftentimes, the best you can hope for is a passing conversation or a hastily composed e-mail.

As you progress through your career, you will discover that there is one other distinct difference between group projects in school and group projects in life. In real life, there is no such animal as a communal group project and the whole group does not get the same grade. If you are the unfortunate soul that is in charge of an unmotivated group, the penalty for a substandard effort may be unemployment. It usually sounds something like, “If you can’t get your group to perform, I will find someone else who can!” That’s right, in real life those who can do, do – those who can’t will have to go to work elsewhere.

So here is my recommendation for teachers and professors that persist in assigning group projects which we will call the Rule of Threes. Never assign more than three people to group project. If you assign more that three people to a group, at least one of them will try to skate and not contribute anything to the project goals. Next, break the semester into three sections and assign a new group project for each section. If you want to make the projects reflect a real life workplace – add in some unrealistic deadlines that must be met along the way. However, I’ve saved the best recommendation for last – each group member must serve as the project leader for one of the projects. And here is the zinger – unless the group performs at an A or B level, the project leader receives a letter grade that is one below the grade that the group received. So if the group receives a C, the project leader will receive a D. Of course, none of the project grades will be released until the end of semester. This will allow the students to experience the type of “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” politics that is so common in the real workplace.

Actually, upon further reflection, let’s just keep things the way they are. Let’s let our kids have a few more years to experience a Utopian view of real life before they realize that things just don’t work that way. Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy and real life – let’s let them believe for as long as possible.

Posted in Supervision | No Comments »

Website: Internet Crime Complaint Center

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C). Don’t you just love all those acronyms? Why can’t the feds just make up a name and go with it like the rest of us. That criticism aside, this is a great outfit and their website is loaded with some really useful information about cyber crime.

For law enforcement agencies, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes. In fact, they are currently warning of two new e-mail scams. The first involves e-mail messages that claim to come from the FBI or its director, Robert S. Mueller. This scam even includes pictures of Mueller, a seal, letterhead, and/or banners. The messages are usually fake inheritance notifications or lotteries.

The second scam involves e-mail claiming to come from U.S. soldiers overseas. These messages normally request personal information or money. As should be the case with all of this e-mail trash, just hit the delete key.

Be sure to check out the IC3 website.

CLICK HERE:

Internet Crime Complaint Center

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Website: Can You Afford To Retire?

Most folks will agree that working the street is a young man’s game. The physical demands of police work require a sound mind and body if you hope to make it home safely at the end of your shift. Knowing, that we can’t work the streets forever, officers and deputies dream about the day when they can pick up the gold watch and punch out for the last time. Many hours on the midnight shift have been passed with discussions about what you and your coworkers plan to do after retiring. Unfortunately, many people are not going to be able to realize their dreams and some retirees find even have to re-enter the work force.

PBS’s FRONTLINE recently aired a show on retirement that, while sad, includes tips and advice for avoiding planning mistakes others have made. The show includes four segments:

• What You Need To Know – Frequently Asked Questions about pensions, 401(k)s and how much to save for retirement.
• The Changing World Of Retirement – An update on the 2006 pension law, plus expert analysis and articles on what’s gone wrong and what’s ahead.
• Interviews – Industry insiders and retirement experts discuss the state of retirement today.
• Retirement Stories – A closer look at the employees featured in this report and a sidebar video story on pensions lost to bankruptcy.

You can watch all four segments and get a host of other retirement related information on FRONTLINE’s website.

CLICK HERE:

Can You Afford To Retire?

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Courtroom Testimony – Cross-Examination Techniques

In response to my recent article entitled, “Chess And The Art Of Courtroom Testimony“, MikeB asked if I would discuss the tricks that defense attorneys use to discredit an officer’s testimony. There are probably as many courtroom tricks as there are attorneys so it would be difficult to create an all encompassing list of potential methods. However, there are some techniques that may be used more than others.

First, an officer needs to understand that court, by its very nature, is an adversarial environment just like a chess match. However, the stakes are much higher in a criminal trial than in a chess match. Always keep in mind that the purpose of cross-examination is to weaken and disprove the state’s case so the defense attorney is not your buddy. The professional officer must understand that the game begins long before he is called to the stand to testify. Some attorneys will try to start the game early by engaging the officer in an “off the record” discussion before court starts. It is a good idea to avoid these types of discussions because the defense attorney may attempt to use your comments against you during the trial. It may be a better strategy to refer the defense attorney to the prosecutor or at least have the prosecutor present during the conversation.

Regardless of the techniques that an attorney attempts to employ, it is critical that the officer keep his emotions in check. In addition to the fact that you can’t think clearly when you are under emotional stress, appearing nervous or angry on the stand can impact your credibility in the eyes of the judge and jury.

Experienced officers know that a calm voice can be used to defuse tense situations like domestic arguments. This same technique can be used to off-set an aggressive cross-examination. Even if the defense attorney is aggressive, the officer’s credibility may be impacted if the judge or jury notices a distinct change in an officer’s attitude or demeanor from direct to cross-examination. The officer should remain calm and courteous and give good, short, honest answers to all questions.

One of the most common techniques is the use of “Yes or No” questions. Basically, the attorney attempts to force the officer to answer a complex question with a “yes or no” answer. The officer should respond by first telling the attorney that the answer needs to be qualified. If the attorney insists on a “yes or no” answer, answer the judge and then ask him if you may qualify your answer.

The next common technique is the use of rapid fire questioning. This is an easy technique to defuse since the officer can control the rate of questioning by taking the time to consider each question before answering. This has the added benefit of allowing time for the prosecutor to object. The officer can also slow the rate of questioning by asking the attorney to repeat or rephrase the question.

Next, some attorneys will try to make the officer look inept by adopting a condescending manner. I used to frequently encounter this technique when I testified in DUI cases but, since I was a Breathalyzer instructor, I was pretty adept at answering questions related to the operation of the instrument. However, the defense attorney was usually asking his questions from a script that he obtained in a book. It was fun to ask the attorney if he could rephrase his question since he generally didn’t understand the topic well enough to do so. Normally, the best way to combat this technique is to answer the questions in a firm and decisive manner.

Officers should also be alert for the friendly counsel technique. Here the defense attorney tries to come across as the officer’s friend in an effort to obtain answers that are favorable to the defendant. The officer’s antennae should immediately go up if a defense attorney is trying to be a nice guy in the courtroom since his job is to diminish your effectiveness on the stand. Remember to beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

The final technique is the badgering or belligerent attorney which comes straight from the television courtrooms. The purpose of this technique is to provoke an emotional response from the officer. Once you learn to recognize that the attorney’s aggressive manner is a performance it should be easy to deal with this technique. Simply remain calm, speak in a deliberate voice and be sure to give prosecutor time to object.

These are just a few of the more common techniques used by defense attorneys. One way to hone your testifying skills is to pay attention to other cases while you are sitting in the courtroom awaiting your case. Try to identify the techniques that defense attorneys use in other cases. Oftentimes, a given attorney will tend to use the same technique over and over. If you can identify these tendencies, it will give you an edge when you face the attorney in the future.

If you have a question or a comment about any article that appears in The Sisyphus Comments, do like MikeB and click on the ‘Comments” link at the end of the article. Intelligent questions and comments increase the educational value of the article for everyone.

Posted in Entry Level, In-service | 9 Comments »