Smyrna Citizens Police Academy

It is time to register for a wonderful experience. I went through the program in 2007 and enjoyed it immensely.

The dates for the 2012 Citizen's Police Academy. The class will begin January 19 and will end 12 weeks later on April 5. All classes will occur on Thursday night from 6 pm - 9 pm.

Go here to learn more and apply.

Details on what it is says...

Police Departments across the nation have adopted the "Community Policing" philosophy. Locally, the Smyrna Police Department has implemented different ways of working more closely with citizens on problem-solving in the community.
The Citizens Police Academy will provide participants with an opportunity to gain a broad perspective of the police profession. The 12 week Academy is designed to give citizens an overview of the department's functions and procedures, while providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns relating to the community. However, be aware the Academy is not designed to train the participants to perform any law enforcement services.

Classes will be taught by department personnel and guest instructors. Participants are always encouraged to express ideas, concerns and questions about any aspect of the department's operations. The classes are scheduled for Thursday nights, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. The first class opened on May 1, 1997 with much success, and continues with your support.

I highly recommend this program for those who want to get more involved in our town and learn about one of the more important services the local government supplies.

Golf Scramble

I don't play golf, but I do know that the 'shop with a cop' program is a fine quality local effort to make a difference and worthy of free publicity. If you feel you or your business might want to be involved in this give them a call and make a difference where it counts.

The Smyrna Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association(SCPAAA) will be hosting the 11th Annual Golf Scramble on May 7,2010.This event enables the Association to support community programs such as Shop With A Cop,Citizen Police Academy,National Night Out Against Crime and The National Law Officers Memorial Funds.The scramble is a 4 person Best Ball Format with a shotgun start at 1pm. Fees are $300 a team which includes green fees,lunch and dinner.Hurry get your teams in ASAP spots will fill up quickly. You can contact Tom Harmon at 615-785-0260 or email him at carzfrm60s@comcast.net or myself at 615-299-6913 or email hampton6264@aol.com.

Have fun people.

2010 Citizens Police Academy

As an alumni of this academy I can say it is a learning experience and worth the time.

SPDCPA class for 2010 is gearing up. We will begin class on Thursday, January 14, 2010. The class will run 12 weeks and we will have our final class on Thursday, April 1, 2010. All classes will occur on Thursday night and will begin at 6 pm and end at 9 pm.
This is a great opportunity for members of the community to become closely acquainted with the roles and responsibilities of the police department. Students will leave this training with a greater understanding of the Smyrna police department and how the department serves the community.


All information about the class can be found on the police department section of the website under the Citizen's Police Academy link. All interested participants must complete an application and give permission for the Smyrna Police Department to conduct a criminal background check.
Click here (PDF) for SPDCPA Application

I went in 2007 and it was a blast. I met a lot of interesting people and learned a lot of how the inner working of the Smyrna police department plays out in their daily activities.

Neighborhood watch

I just got off the phone with Sgt Gibson and he stated that if if we wanted to start a neighborhood watch in our area we need to find a date and time and he will come out and talk with us all and set this up. He also stated that many people just want the signs posted up which is still a good thing but in this day and time we need to come together and watch each others back. He did tell me that there isnt any evidence that this was a drive by shooting. Also there are not any know gangs that are organized in our city but there are wannabe. Teens that want to be gang members but aren't. If any of you want a meeting with him for the area in concern please leave me a comment or email me at bearroller9640 at yahoo dot com and I will set this up. Let me know either way what you want to do. Either a sign or an actual watch! thanks again for reading This is Smyrna!

SPD Citizens' Police Academy

The town of Smyrna has opened up registration for next years Smyrna Citizens' Police Academy. I took part in it last year and it was worth it in so many ways. The classes were held once a week and lasted from about 6pm - 9pm plus when I went.

The Smyrna Police Department is now accepting applications for the first Citizens' Police Academy in 2008. These sessions of educational classes offered to the public to promote an understanding and awareness of the duties and responsibilities of the Smyrna Police Department start January 24 and run to an April 10th graduation. This is a unique opportunity for citizens of Smyrna to learn about their police department and the work they perform in the community. The academy provides an overview of police operations, practices, and objectives. The classes are scheduled for Thursday nights, from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm.

With public support and understanding so essential to law enforcement, the Citizens' Police Academy has proven to be an excellent program to bring the community and law enforcement together for common goals. The overall goal of the Citizen Police Academy is "Understanding through Education". This is accomplished by the exchange of information from the citizen participants and law enforcement instructors of the class.

If you are a citizen who lives in Smyrna and have ever had a question about the police department and would like to get feedback in a comfortable setting-this is the class for you. The academy is free of cost, and enrollment is limited.

To learn more and to apply on-line or by mail Click Here ===> Citizens' Police Academy

You learn about more then just our police department, but also law enforcement in general. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about our police department.

Citizen's Police academy - Night 3

Thursday night's citizens police academy started on a rather emotional subject. Child abuse. I'm not talking "daddy doesn't emotionally support me" line of abuse, but the intense emotional and bruise causing abuse that sticks with a kid for life.

Officer Liehr was the presenter for this subject. I could tell that it was hard to talk about this form of abuse unemotionally and detached.

His presentation involved at one point three pictures. Each showed "wounds" on a child and we were asked to try to figure out which was abuse and which was "other". I, and a good chunk of the class, guessed wrong.

To report child abuse in Tennessee call
1-877-237-0004

I found that in Tennessee it is illegal NOT to report possible abuse. It is the highest level of misdemeanor not to.

I asked about parents reporting abuse by the other parent as a tool in a divorce and how common was it. He said he has had that happened, and to file a false police report(on any subject) was a felony.

Next up were the chaplains. I was rather surprised that Smyrna has three chaplains, and one in training. One is always on call with their own shared city supplied vehicle, and support the police in counselling, death notifications, and other needs that arise. Smyrna police chaplains are all members of the ICPC (International Conference of Police Chaplains). I was surprised at the level of training that is required to be a police chaplain.

Next up was Officer James Scott. He talked on Domestic violence.

Most domestic abuse runs in a cycle. Tension - Violence - Honeymoon - Tension(again), with each time the cycle normally occurs faster and faster. This cycle is perpetuated by the victim's lack of willingness to prosecute and family members not reporting it. He told of many reasons why they would not stop the violence. Religious, cultural, and financial are just a few hurdles that hurt the ability to help the victim.

FYI
A local place for help is the DV(domestic violence) program of Rutherford county
615-896-7377
and the Rutherford county Guidance Center
615-893-0770

Officer Scott ended the night with talk on Internet safety for children.

A few basic numbers show that 25% of all search engine requests are for porn and that the largest consumer of Internet porn is in the 12-17 year range.

Basic email safety was discussed like turning off HTML graphics, and never using a preview window. Also discussed was the physical aspects of security. Locking down your routers so people cannot log into your system, and changing default passwords.

With all that said the best way to protect a child on the net is the parent. Keep and eye on what they are doing, and keep the computer out in the main part of the house. The parent is the strongest tool to protect the child on the net.

Day 1
Day 2

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

Citizen's Police academy - Night 1

I was not quit sure what a citizen's police academy looked like so I went with no preconceived notions. What I saw last night of a room full of interested, and interesting people. The first night of the academy was mostly basic introductions and a little of what we would be going over in the next two months.

One surprising item that I did not expect, was that we would be doing ride-alongs with the officers on patrol. That means if you see me in a police car in the next month or so, I probably didn't do anything....probably.

We had four speakers last night. Officer Kriebs, Patrol Commander Dwyer(Seen here), Captain Keith Lowery, and Division Commander Laura Williams. Each went over their specific division and what it did. a lot of stories from their past in the Smyrna police department and the departments history.

For me the most interesting speaker was Mr. Lowery. He's in the tech. division and some of the future plans, and "wants" for Smyrna are pretty impressive. He was a true font of information.

One is the fact that Smyrna police vehicles may be getting a information station for their cars. You have likely seen them in the movies. A small computer keyboard and monitor that links in to national databanks, DMV records, and other needed tools that can speed up their reaction and effectiveness.

He also mentioned something that impressed me. ALL Smyrna police cars have dash cameras. They're there for the protection of the police, and citizens of Smyrna and something I am an advocate of. He mentioned one item that surprised me. They are on the entire shift and it records the data to a hard disc that then burns a portable disc. Mr Dwyer talked about the older VHS recorders that would loose tracking and sound and was a general pain.

Mr Lowery also talked about a full city wide wireless mesh system. It could connect all cars, cameras, and even other surprising items. Imagine if you woke up and could hop on line and see what roads have been plowed as all plows have GPS trackers? The police dispatchers could see exactly were all the patrol vehicles are and send the nearest one to a crime scene. Cutting down response time can easily save a person's life.

The wireless mesh could also connect police close circuit TV cameras at parks and other areas.

One ominous thing he did say was that speed/red light cameras may, just may, be in our future. Ick for many reasons.

Now this wireless mesh system needs big towers, and that costs money. Unless you're smart and piggy back them on other towers, like the future tornado siren towers that are in the planning stage. That's the ideal outcome..

Division Commander Laura Williams talked generally about crime in Smyrna and surprised me with one bit of information. Smyrna has a growing gang problem. We've all seen wannabees walking around looking "thuggish" in a clown like fashion. It turns out there now seems to be the real deal making their presence known.

We also were introduced to the CPA alumni association. Turns out the Citizen Police academy is 11 years old this year. The alumni association does a lot of good things in the community in cooperation with the police department. Helping with parades, working with the "Shop with a cop" program, and other police functions that do not require law enforcement.

All in all, a very pleasant evening.

I also introduced a lot of people to this website. So "HI!" if you're from the academy.