Gordon Graham

Risky Ramblings: Risk Management for Public Safety

Gordon Graham has been actively involved in law enforcement since 1973. He spent nearly 10 years as a very active motorcycle officer while also attending Cal State Long Beach to achieve his teaching credential, USC to do his graduate work in Safety and Systems Management with an emphasis on Risk Management, and Western State University to obtain his law degree. In 1982 he was promoted to sergeant and also admitted to the California State Bar and immediately opened his law offices in Los Angeles.

While serving as a field sergeant, he started to combine his legal education and experience along with his graduate education in Risk Management to develop processes designed to improve the quality of law enforcement. His early work included developing the “Five Pillars of Success” – which today serves as the foundation of Lexipol. Additionally, he was instrumental in developing the Drug Recognition Expert program and the “daily training bulletin” (DTB) concept. In 1995 he promoted to captain and retired from active duty in 2006.

He regularly serves as an educator and trainer to public safety professionals from around the world. He was the first recipient of the California Governor’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement training in 1995, and in 2005 received the “Presidential Award for Excellence” from the International Association of Fire Chiefs for his lifelong work in improving firefighter safety and performance. He is constantly in pursuit of “the next best way” to do things. And most importantly, he has assisted his beautiful wife in raising two great children who have given them great happiness.

Full list of Gordon Graham results

Police knowledge of community resources for the homeless
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One thing we need to remember is that homelessness is not a crime. All people need to be treated with dignity and respect
Self-control in use of force
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You don’t get to “win” the fight. You stop when the violence or active resistance has stopped
Handling citizen complaints in law enforcement
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Complaints against our officers will never go away. However, don’t always perceive them negatively
Why things go right and why things go wrong: Part 1
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Risk management expert Gordon Graham details how to combat the five reasons mistakes are made in public safety
Why are warnings often unheeded?
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What public safety can learn from the Titan submersible disaster
Lock your patrol vehicle
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Folks, remember to take that extra time to simply grab your keys and lock your patrol vehicle
Increasing training effectiveness in law enforcement
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When designing your next training, consider how you will promote not only learning, but learning transfer
Should you be publishing police policies online?
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Put those policies out there and make them easy to access. We really have nothing to hide
Defensive driving during emergency response
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You can’t help anyone if you don’t get there safely; always practice defensive driving, especially when you’re responding to an emergency call
Learning from history in public safety
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Emergency responders need to become students of history. It’s one of the easiest ways to avoid becoming the subject of history repeating itself
It is only because 'not all the holes in the Swiss Cheese lined up' that I am not dead
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Please understand the problems caused by a lack of sleep and don’t do what I did
First Responder Wellness Week: Gordon Graham explains the vision
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First responders can change the story when it comes to wellness – and it all starts with you!
How to have a healthy lifestyle as a law enforcement officer
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Friends, at the end of the day, your health is largely in your hands. Take some extra time to take care of you
Outreach is more than just a word
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If the first time you meet your community is after a tragedy, it’s too late. Your job is to know your community before you need to know them
Motorist safety: Location of traffic stops
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Use your discretion and consider the situation from the driver’s perspective when you can and when appropriate
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