User:Morley Lymburner/sandbox

Blue Line Magazine is a monthly magazine directed at the law enforcement community in Canada. The original concept was created by Morley and Mary Lymburner in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1988. Morley was a police officer with the Toronto Police Service and Mary was former educator who became a bookseller and store owner. The assets of the magazine were acquired by Annex Business Media of Simcoe, Ontario, on October 1, 2016.

The original editorial direction for the publication focussed on informing and upgrading the skills of police officers across Canada. Its stated goal was to supply those involved in enforcing the laws with news and information about their profession in a manner unfiltered by individual police agencies or their respective unions or labour associations. Of particular interest were agencies too small to supply their members with up-to-date information or additional training on a regular basis.

Later refinements concentrated on educating officers on the manner in which higher court rulings affected their day-to-day working environment. The publisher recognized a weakness in police clearly informing their members as to why many procedures were being changed due to superior court rulings on current laws or changes in federal and provincial legislation. The publication's creators determined the current style of command and control was no longer the manner in which to obtain buy-in to change. Blue Line filled this gap with extensive reporting of court rulings as they may affect the readership's day-to-day functioning.

EDITORIAL CONTENT

Initially case law was researched and written by the magazine publisher, Morley Lymburner, but as his increased responsibilities grew it was necessary to look for a suitable columnist to take on this task. Mike Novakowski was selected to take over the case law column in December 2001. Mike Novakowski is a 30 year member of the Abbotsford Police Department (B.C.) and currently is a Professor in the Criminology & Criminal Justice department of the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford B.C.

A large part of the publications lifeblood came from the commercial advertising world. This meant sifting through large volumes of press releases from companies and organizations interested in marketing to the broader law enforcement community across Canada. Early on it was decided a reliable and technically savvy individual, with a keen interest in policing, would be required. All aspects of this was fulfilled when Tom Rataj was approached to write a monthly column in 1991. At the time Tom was working as a police officer working as a planner with the Toronto Police Service.

Early on the publication recognized the importance of demystifying the effects of mental illness. This concern was of a dual nature. The first was educating officers about manifestations they encountered in individuals daily who would display mental problems. The magazine had a mandate to educate officers on identifying ailments and learning how to cope with, and seek treatment for, these persons. The second was to recognize and possibly treat symptoms which arise from working in high stress situations. Educating officers on recognizing the symptoms of post traumatic stress and encouraging coping mechanisms and directing them toward seeking help for the affliction.

To work on these dual issues of mental health two regular columnists were introduced. Dr. Dorothy Cotten, a registered psychologist licensed to practice in Ontario, began writing a monthly column in 2001. Her home-spun style of writing attracted a large following and eventually generated a national committee called the Police / Mental Health Liaison Group (PMHL) a working committee supported by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. written by recognized experts in their respective fields.

Dr. Stephanie Conn, a Vancouver-based clinical psychologist and counsellor, was selected to take over aspects relating the police officer mental health issues. She began writing her column in September 2012 and continued writing until June 2016. A former police officer herself she became interested in the police counselling aspects of mental health. Her column topics involved issues surrounding personal mental health and discussing lifestyle enhancements and coping mechanisms suitable for the policing function.

(NOTE: Magazine Recognitions, Awards)