by David Brown | Jul 21, 2026 | Insight, Leadership, Thoughts |
In the early months of the pandemic, law enforcement officers around this country were told, in everything but writing, to stop being cops. The order did not come from their chiefs. It came from the politics above their chiefs, and the crime rates that followed told...
by David Brown | Jun 16, 2026 | HumanFirst, Insight, Journal |
My kid was working on a craft project at the kitchen table the other night. He was struggling with how much glue to use and where to put it. Naturally, seeing his frustration grow and fearing the mess that would likely ensue, I took over. I had the glue placed, the...
by David Brown | Jun 2, 2026 | Blog, Insight, Journal, Leadership, Non-Profit, Productivity, Thoughts |
The text came in at 6:40 on a Tuesday. A deputy one hundred miles away wanted to know if there was still a seat on the June trip, and the answer lived in exactly one place. My own head. Not a shared calendar. Not a second person who could have handled it in ten...
by David Brown | Apr 21, 2026 | Blog, Insight, Journal, Leadership |
In 1991, a journalist named John Byrne gave a phenomenon a name: CEO-Disease. This phenomenon is exactly why it feels lonely at the top. It describes the information vacuum that forms around a leader when subordinates learn, through experience or observation, that...
by David Brown | Mar 3, 2026 | Blog, HumanFirst, Insight, Leadership |
Anne Frank wrote, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” She wrote that hiding in an attic. Thirteen years old. Surrounded by genocide. Her instinct wasn’t to wait for rescue or permission....
by David Brown | Jan 6, 2026 | Insight, Journal, Leadership |
Recently, I stood in front of a room full of newly graduated law enforcement officers to speak about standards—what they are, why they matter, and how they quietly define the profession long before policy manuals ever do. These were men and women at the beginning of...
