For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been interested in law enforcement for quite a while. And the more I study criminal justice issues, the more I become fascinated with community policing. For those of you who don’t know, community policing is "a policing strategy and philosophy based on the notion that community interaction and support can help control crime and reduce fear, with community members helping to identify suspects, detain vandals and bring problems to the attention of police."
Some people don’t like the idea of community policing because they’ve been taught to mind their own business. But there comes a point where those people have to draw the line between minding their own business and standing up for the safety of the community. It’s my belief that people have a lot more power over crime than they realize, but they’ve been sucked into this lie that they should mind their own business.
This issue of community policing really hit home when I started going to Crossroads Bible College because it’s on a side of town that isn’t the greatest. Eastgate Mall sits abandoned right across the street from the college, down the street there’s a motel that’s been shut down by the city and fenced off, and there are houses in need of dire repair. But I started to really have an affection for the neighborhood when I started volunteering at Shepherd Community down the street, I really began to feel like I had some ownership in the community. When I did the Grace Staff Day of Service at Shepherd, I was able to see the community in which the Shepherd staff lived, how they were planting roots in the community and working to make their homes and community a better place.
I was in chapel the other day when our college president presented us with the "Faith-Based Covenant With the Community." It’s being done by the City of Peace Coalition and is between faith-based organizations and Marion County. I wanted to post it here on my blog so that you can see what some people are wanting to step up and do to help their communities. Maybe it will serve as an inspiration for you if you live in one of these communities or it may stir your heart to get involved with urban ministry. It’s a huge task, but with the community and police working together, we can make our neighborhood safer.
FAITH-BASED COVENANT WITH THE COMMUNITY
WE, as a faith community, enter into this covenant with the community at large to play our part in making Marion County safer;
WE reject deviant behavior that preys upon the young, the elderly, and defenseless in our community;
WE urge all people of goodwill, honesty, dignity, nobility, peace, hope, and love to stand with us as we refuse to accept this kind of behavior;
WE recognize that reducing crime in our community is a challenge that will require community, businesses, government, law enforcement, and all sectors of the faith community working in partnership;
WE call on our community to enter into covenant agreement with us in order to help us reduce violence in Marion County;
WE, as a faith community, will provide
Safe havens for youth.
Employ street outreach workers to directly interface with those involved or potentially involved in criminal behavior.
Organize and facilitate faith walks to continually remind our community that there is hope and alternatives to violence.
A connection to those in need of employment, resources, and social services.
WE call on Black Males and others to join us in this covenant by
Ending the senseless killing of one another.
Ending the phenomenon known as "deadbeat" dads.
Being responsible role models for their children.
Making a decision to be a positive on-going constructive presence in the lives of their children.
Working to eliminate the unlawful buying, selling, and use of firearms.
Putting an end to the glorification of gangster images.
Cease the unlawful buying, selling, and distribution of drugs in the community.
WE call on individuals in the neighborhoods to partner with us by
Getting to know your neighbors.
Joining, participate in and/or establishing crime/neighborhood watch teams.
Reporting crimes and criminal activity that take place in the neighborhood.
Join in the effort to eradicate abandoned homes, drug houses and dark streets.
WE call on parents and families to join us in this covenant by
Establishing a curfew for your children.
Making education a priority by encouraging children to stay in school.
Becoming aware of your child’s friends and activities.
Promoting and modeling abstinence and rejecting a culture of promiscuity; teen and unwed pregnancies.
Removing the images and glorification of gangster life in the household.
Tonight was our graduation from the Carmel Citizen’s Police Academy. As a class, we are so grateful for the Carmel Police Department who have been so gracious to us and have allowed us to be a part of their family (and we hope that continues!). Special thanks go out to Ann Gallagher, Patti McAllister, and Major Barlow. Thanks to Chief Fogarty, Assistant Chief Green, and all the divisions that taught us throughout these ten weeks.
Our graduation was a lot more than I had expected, mostly because I didn’t expect a graduation. Ha ha! We had a great dinner, gave out awards, and talked about what we liked about the class. It was a great wrap-up and was most definitely appreciated by all of us in the class.
It doesn’t end there though. Those who have taken this class before us have formed an alumni association, so we’ll be seeing each other again… not as often, but we’ll be seeing each other. I greatly enjoyed this time at Carmel PD and if you live in Carmel and are interested in taking the class, visit the Carmel Police web site. I know that other departments offer this too, so check your local department’s web site.
Well my friends, that’s all for now. Here’s our class picture, it was great getting to meet these great people!
Ahhh, week ten. We made it! I think that this week had to be one of my favorite weeks, just because it was more hands on. And when I look back on it, it feels like we just started yesterday!
Today we mostly talked about traffic stops and did “simulated traffic stops.” When you think about it, a traffic stop is typically the way most people encounter police officers. It’s also a good chance for the officer to find people doing things they shouldn’t: drugs, smuggling, driving without a license, etc.
Anyway, simulated traffic stops. We set up our little course behind the bank and paired up. We were told how to perform a traffic stop, what to look for, what we can/can’t do, etc. It was actually pretty fun having Ann (our leader) and the officer’s wife play the “bad guys.” We had a great time and instead of boring you with facts (which I find interesting, you may not), I am going to leave you with a couple of videos along with some photos. Enjoy!
UPDATE: Per department policy, I removed some of my pictures and video. Sorry!
Hi friends! Sorry about not posting an entry last week. We got introduced to the SWAT team and while there were a few cool things, I didn’t really find much to photograph.
We spent this week down on the Carmel PD shooting range, which if I had paid attention, I would’ve found it the first time I drove by it. If you’re ever by the wastewater treatment facility on 96th Street and Hazel Dell Parkway, you just might see the range north of that. Surprisingly, it didn’t smell that bad. God must have made the wind blow south instead of north towards us.
We started talking about the different types of force, how it’s used, etc. The rangemaster shot a couple tasers for us to show how it works. I think most of us were excited for the Laser Shot training simulation. Basically you stand in front a screen and a video plays a scenario. Watching the person, you decide when and if it’s the right time to shoot.
My first scenario was kind of a bust. It was a courtroom with a beligerent man not wanting to go back to jail. He shoved the bailiff and came running at me, I shot him three times in the chest cavity. Whoops! Turns out he didn’t have a weapon in this particular simulation… thanks alot Major Barlow! Ha ha!
The second simulation was a bit more difficult, it had me walking through a hallway of a school with multiple shooters… children shooting at me! The version that Carmel PD owns seems like a fairly simple version of the Laser Shot system. They take a Glock and put a laser sight in it, so when you shoot at the screen, it registers where you shot (think of it like a high-tech version of Duck Hunt). I was browsing through YouTube and found this video showing a more advanced version of the software used by the Army….
Well, that pretty sums it up. Next week we’ll be doing simulated stops, so we’ll get to drive a squad car and pull people over, it should be good times… now what did I do with that taser? Ha ha!
FUN FACT: Did you know that there’s a civilian version of the taser gun like the police use? It’s the Taser X26C. In Indiana, it is considered a deadly weapon if a civilian uses it without proper training.
Today we talked about Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVO) and was also introduced to the K-9 unit. The EVO portion of the class was pretty straight-forward and he went over a lot of basics.
I was most impressed with the K-9 Unit presentation. I found out that a lot of police dogs are actually imported from around the world. One of the dogs was from the Czech Republic, another was from the Netherlands, and one from Germany. Apparently the blood-line from those countries are of a much stronger breed which makes them excellent hunting/narcotics dogs. The K-9 trainer at Carmel PD prefers German Shepherds because they are the easiest to train and have more control.
We learned that you never want to mess with a police dog, as they’ve been trained very well. One time a man walked up to the K-9 officer and extended his hand to shake the officer’s hand… apparently the dog took this as a threatening move and bit the guy. The dogs are also very protective of their human partners. Let’s say the officer is doing a traffic stop and the person gets out and starts attacking the officer. The officer carries a remote with them that can pop open the door and release the dog.
The dogs do a lot. There was one time in Cicero where a suspect was hiding out in an attic. They had the dog sit on a SWAT shield and two officers lifted the dog up into the attic to search for the suspect. Can you imagine that? Hiding out in the attic and all of the sudden you see a dog’s head pop up? Ha ha!
Unfortunately I forgot to bring my video camera, so all I have are still pictures. But I did find a video produced by the NYPD which can give you a better idea of the K-9 unit and show them in action. So enjoy the video and enjoy the pictures!
Today we talked about Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVO) and was also introduced to the K-9 unit. The EVO portion of the class was pretty straight-forward and he went over a lot of basics.
