Friday, November 28, 2003
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Friday, November 28, 2003 |
| Academy gives citizens firsthand look
at police work
By JOHN MUNFORD They’ve been getting their hands wet in police work, from processing a crime scene to deciding whether they need to shoot a suspect during a computer-driven live simulation. Participants in the Citizens Police Academy offered by the Peachtree City Police Department said it has all been fun. In addition to the classroom work, they’ve also had the chance to ride along with police officers to get a firsthand look at what real policing is. For most of them, the ride along was “boring.” “Welcome to police work,” deadpanned Lt. David Lamb. “Long periods of boredom with 30 seconds of sheer terror.” Only one participant saw significant action during her ride along: Candy Jones, who bragged about watching FBI agents raid a residence, catching someone who was providing fake Social Security cards to illegal immigrants. For the others, however, the ride-along was slower paced. “I didn’t realize how much paperwork went into it,” said Kristi Goss. “On every call there were two or three pages with it.”
Ranging from traffic stops to innocuous complaint calls, the students faced situations that police recruits are exposed to when their judgment is evaluated. The computer also recorded where the students shot to determine if they were effective, and a slow-motion replay of the events proved telling as to each student’s effectiveness, displaying where each shot went. “You take it for granted when you walk up to a car but you really don’t know what you’re getting into,” said Melvin Ewing. Ewing had to shoot a shoplifting suspect in a department store who pulled a knife and charged him. Monae Pettaway faced an innocent-seeming elderly man with a complaint about the tenant he was renting his basement to. She was caught off guard when the man went back inside his house and came out firing his shotgun at the tenant. She shot the armed man, who fell to the ground in a crouch momentarily, but lifted up briefly to squeeze off a few more rounds at the tenant. “The simulator is a good tool,” Pettaway said. “It gave me a better understanding of how the officer is supposed to handle the weapon and what not to do.” Rebecca Raymer said her experience in the firearms simulator wasn’t what she expected — based on watching the television show “COPS.” “I’m still shaking,” Raymer said minutes after her turn in the simulator.
Lamb suggested people should get a copy of their credit report twice a year to check for any inconsistencies. He also urged using a shredder to dispose of sensitive materials at home and changing your driver’s license number to one different from their social security number. Lamb also recommends keeping most credit cards at home, carrying them only when necessary. “Some gangs in L.A. and New York are moving away from drug sales to identity fraud,” Lamb said. “It’s that lucrative.” Sgt. Mark Brown briefed the class about the department’s SWAT team, saying although the team is activated just a few times a year it must be ready to go at any time. The testing of applicants to the team is designed to put them under a high amount of stress “so we can evaluate whether we have the right people for the job,” Brown explained. Not everybody who applies is added to the team, he added. The SWAT team is activated for hostage rescue situations, suicidal persons, the execution of high-risk search warrants, escaped prisoners and other extraordinary situations, Brown said. Because of the inherent dangers with those scenarios, they must train at a high level to be effective, Brown added. The class was also treated to an exhibition from the SWAT team at the city’s fire practice building which featured one SWAT member rappelling from the roof and the use of flash-bang distraction devices before they swooped into the building to make the arrest. And contrary to popular belief, the well-armed SWAT team “is designed to prevent injury,” Brown said. In most instances, the team is deployed to a situation where surveillance has been taking place for some time in advance so the team will know what it’s getting into, Brown said.
Steve Ivory said he was surprised how difficult it can be to process a crime scene, from collecting fingerprint evidence to compiling photographs all of which could be used to prosecute a suspect. Jim Rogers said he didn’t realize that the department reached out to the community youth through the Boy Scout Explorer Post, school resource officers and other programs. He also said he was impressed with the officers’ wishes to follow procedures to make sure persons rights aren’t violated. The class on drug activity also was interesting, said Susan Leigh Baker and Kristi Goss. “It was interesting to see how they investigated those cases,” Goss said. Police Chief James Murray, who taught the last class on ethics and professionalism, said the department may offer an advanced citizens’ police academy in the summer due to interest expressed by the participants in this class.
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