50 episodes listed below
Shop talk on police leadership, training and forensic work.
Crime Scene Today with Dan Zientek is an interview show about the working side of policing and forensics, and Texas agencies are its usual reference point. Conversations cover supervisor evaluations, training for departments with only a few officers, officer mental health and why a speech class matters in a lab.
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Crime Scene Today with Dan Zientek files under true crime, yet these episodes are about the people who staff police departments and forensic organizations, not the crimes they investigate. Think of it as shop talk. The questions come from inside the work. How should a supervisor evaluate an officer? Who trains a department that consists of one person? What does a college degree add to a forensic career? Several of these episodes belong to a leadership series. The conversation with Charles, of JNC Leadership Consulting, turns to the size of the training problem in Texas: 254 counties with sheriff's departments, constable and municipal agencies on top of those, most with fewer than 20 officers and some run by a single officer. With Mike Alexander, the talk turns to an acronym, SHAPE, for getting to know direct reports through their strengths, heart, attitude and personality. Cotton, a captain at Bel Air PD in Texas, met the host at a leadership training. Their episode covers a two-day TPCA course on evaluations and argues that every supervisor should be trained to write reviews that help an officer grow instead of holding them back. Not every conversation happens in a studio. The Jack Flanders episode was recorded at a TDII educational conference in Austin. It weighs formal education against experience in forensic work, down to the value of a speech communication class in a laboratory full of distinct personalities. Another episode tied to a conference features Zack Kowalske and his book, 'Gaming the Reaper', described in the episode as a top-ten set of practices for using time well and reaching one's potential. He also talks about reading biographies of role models such as Walt Disney and Teddy Roosevelt. Current issues get their own hearing. The conversation with co-host Ryan Herring, who worked in law enforcement, covers shootings on the freeway, a lack of space for violent arrests, and whether after-school programs and community centers can stop crimes before they happen. The show says it has returned to mental health many times, and the Cotton episode closes on a state-funded program for officers in crisis. The register is collegial and plain, and guests get room to explain their own work. The show presents itself as part of the Lone Star Community Radio family, and several episodes open with a station message naming the LSCR Studios in downtown Conroe, Texas. Closings invite email with topic ideas, guest suggestions and sponsorship interest. For a first listen, start with the Mike Alexander episode for the leadership thread, or the Ryan Herring episode for a broader look at current pressures on policing.
Made for: Suits a listener who wants to hear how police departments and forensic organizations handle supervision, training and officer wellbeing, and who would rather follow a profession than a case.
What sets it apart: It treats law enforcement as a workplace rather than a source of cases. The topics include performance evaluations, leadership acronyms, training for small Texas agencies and the value of a degree in forensic work, and some conversations were recorded at professional conferences.
Crime Scene Today provides the latest news and research in the field of law enforcement and forensics.Insightful interviews from experts in their field. Connecting law enforcement and the public through conversation and education. Each week we will be bringing a topic that is relative to present day and future law enforcement. Listeners can email with any questions for Dan or his guests and they will answer those questions on the air. Upcoming topics and guests will be listed on crimescenetoday.comWe look forward to sharing comments on current news impacting law enforcement and forensics from a law enforcement point of view.Contact Dan – [email protected]
A fingerprint examiner's speech class matters if you care how evidence reaches people.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded discussion of evaluations, leadership training, and support for law enforcement officers.
Crime Scene of the Day keeps its focus on the daily work of law enforcement leadership: training, evaluations, employee growth, and support when officers are in crisis. Its most useful stretch comes in the discussion of yearly evaluations.
A grounded look at de-escalation training, leadership, and the resource pressures shaping law enforcement response.
Leadership and public safety meet in a grounded conversation about de-escalation training, starting with Charles Heasley's work with librarians and his law enforcement background in a mental health division.
A grounded law enforcement leadership episode on coaching, mentoring, and succession.
Leadership in law enforcement is treated here as steady daily work: developing people, strengthening teams, and preparing an organization for future service.
A clear conference-floor look at fingerprint examination, education, communication, and accurate identification.
Fingerprint examination comes through as grounded, practical work in this conference conversation with Dan Zintek and fingerprint examiner Jack Flanders.
A metro Atlanta crime scene detective links forensic work, biography, and persistence in a community-radio conversation.
Crime Scene Today returns to its community-minded lane with a conversation that ties crime scene work to law enforcement experience and personal drive.
Plainspoken sermons for conviction and renewal.
Forensic and justice practitioners explain how the work gets done.
Three friends, plenty of tangents, and cases still needing answers.
["Dan Zientek talks with Cotton, a captain at Bel Air PD in Texas, about leadership training from LEMIT, Texas A&M's Mays Business School, Texas Woman's University, and Sam Houston State University.", "They compare LEMIT's nine-week format with the FBI National Academy's 10 weeks at Quantico and TPCA's LECOP classes, which have 12 courses and mostly two-day sessions.", "Cotton says evaluations should document accountability and officer growth, not just produce paperwork, and argues that leadership classes need a shared vocabulary across agencies.", "The later discussion covers LEMIT's three-day PCIS program for critical incidents, including spouse participation, peer facilitators, and EMDR for officers, EMS, fire, and dispatch."]
Dan Zintek and Charles Heasley of JNC Leadership Consulting focus this episode on Texas police mental health response, using the 40-hour CIT requirement and a two-officer-plus-LCSW model as concrete examples.
Mike Alexander says coaching means asking "powerful questions" so the coachee, not the coach, supplies the answer.
Crime Scene Today with Dan Zintek records from TDII in Austin, Texas, and centers on Jack Flanders, a fingerprint examiner, explaining how latent print work changes between scene response and lab comparison.
Crime Scene Today on Lone Star Community Radio centers on Zach, a metro Atlanta crime scene detective and Staffordshire University PhD researcher, as he explains bloodstain pattern analysis, microgravity experiments, and Gaming the Reaper.
Crime Scene Today hosts Dan Zientek and Ryan Herring examine law-enforcement recruitment, with Herring drawing on 24 years of service and describing fewer academy applicants.
Janet Teague describes 30 years in law enforcement, including patrol work, community policing, chaplaincy, and the trauma that followed a 1994 domestic-violence homicide call.
Tom Bevel describes founding the Association for Crime Scene Reconstruction after helping form the International Association of Bloodstain Pattern Analysts and seeing a 40-person Oklahoma meeting expand across four states.
Crime Scene Today host Dan Zintek interviews Brandon Epstein, a forensic video examiner whose specialization began after a 2014 homicide produced more than 400 hours of video from over a dozen locations.
Crime Scene Today with Dan Zintek interviews Eugene Lisio about photogrammetry, laser scanning, drones, and 3D forensic reconstruction.
Host Dan Zientek discusses the cancellation of crime scene conferences due to COVID and interviews Constable Chris Jones about current issues in law enforcement.
Host Dan Zientek interviews law enforcement officers about current police issues and procedures.
Dan Zientek interviews Joe Manns about the roles of canines in bomb squads and fire marshal investigations.
Host Dan Zientek interviews Dr.