Citizen's Police academy - Night 2

Thursday night's citizens police academy started out with an address by the acting city police chief Kevin Arnold.

Chief Kevin Arnold was there to talk about the hiring process for the city. To even get your foot in the door you need to meet one of the following criteria.

1 Minimum of 60 hours at an accredited college. No cosmetology school.
2 Served in the military and left honorably
3 Be a certified police officer

This is followed by interviews, medical and psychological examinations, field training, academy training, and a whole litany of steps needed before the big "Okay" is given. All of this keeps the "he got hired because he's a good ol' boy" aura away. Continual training each year was also addressed.

Small bit of trivia.
Chief Arnold got his start as a library guard at MTSU.

Chief Arnold then talked about the trouble getting candidates. He mentioned that people with convictions apply and seemed confused that the convictions could be a problem. The lack of enough minority candidates was talked about and how Smyrna wants to go to more job fairs at colleges and universities such as Fisk.

Next up was Sgt. Bobby Gibson. Bobby Gibson is one of the towns K-9 officers, and the primary point of contact for the media. When the media is clamoring for information he is the one they go to. One of his jobs is contacting the media with information to assist the police in their investigations. The Analyce Guerra case is an example of when getting the information to the media is so vital.

He also had a couple students do a mock question and answer skit to show how dealing with the press is much more difficult then it seems.

The next speaker was Teresa Winnery(I hope I got her name correct). She addresses the subject of communications with the assistance of Judy a second shift dispatchers.

She, Judy and a couple of victims volunteers showed how they have to juggle 911 calls, officer dispatch calls, and walk in calls. The confusion was humorous, but also showed the level of details needed to perform their job.

Quick question.
Do you know the non-emergency number for the Smyrna city police?
459-6644

Then she exposed us to the grit of her job. The 911 calls. Not the "My cat is in a tree" call, but the "My friend has been shot what do I do" through the screams calls. You listen to just one, and you come to the realization that they likely are not getting paid enough. Calls that can be so bad that counselling is available if desired.

Smyrna Dispatchers are also well trained in areas you may not think are required.

Each dispatcher is required to complete 32 hours of training in field tactical dispatch training including an 8 hour scenario with an active S.W.A.T. operation.

The next speaker was a total surprise to me.

Joe Johnson, Chief of Public Safety at the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport spoke of his job and the job his people perform at the airport. I knew the airport had their own fire department, but had no idea of its many duties. The public safety department is responsible for security, fighting fire, and policing the whole airport. Each Public safety officer is triple licensed in EMS, law enforcement, and fire/rescue.

They are a busy department as they answer over 4600 calls a year. With homeland security assistance they now have a security system that gives them 98% night vision coverage of the airport by camera.

FYI.
Tours of the airport are available for classes and groups by calling 459-2651

We ended the night with a show of the airport authorities fire fighting equipment in the main garage.

night 1