[StBernard] St. Bernard Sheriff's Office will begin Citizens Police Academy in August

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Mon Jul 21 20:48:55 EDT 2014


St. Bernard Sheriff's Office will begin Citizens Police Academy in August
Print NOLA Community Submission By NOLA Community Submission 
on July 16, 2014 at 7:55 AM, updated July 16, 2014 at 7:57 AM

There's no better way to learn about law enforcement than the St. Bernard
Sheriff's Citizens Police Academy, which is free, held in Chalmette and
participants learn about what police work entails in their parish, St.
Bernard Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

"Our Sheriff's Citizens Police Academy classes will answer a lot of the
questions you may have about law enforcement here and why things are done
the way they are,'' Pohlmann said. Graduates, he said, become "ambassadors
for law enforcement because they have a vested interest in what happens in
St. Bernard.''

Call Capt. Charles Borchers at (504) 278-7628 to register. Classes begin
Aug. 27 and will meet each Wednesday at 7 p.m. through graduation night on
Oct. 29.

Classes will be held in the sheriff's Training Center on the 2nd-floor in a
parish government building at 2118 Jackson Ave. in Chalmette, immediately
behind the Parish Courthouse. The Assessor's Office is in the same building.

Frank discussions about specifics of law enforcement in St. Bernard will be
held and participants can ask questions and give their in-put to officers
and speakers from various law enforcement agencies.

Also, one component of the academy that is always popular is the irearms
simulator which has participants make quick-second decisions on whether they
would use lethal force on a ccrimi9nal suspect after watching computerized
scenarios on a screen

Pohlmann said anyone who has attended other Sheriff's Office-sponsored
events including the series "Refuse to be a Victim'' or the National Night
Out Against Crime would especially find the Citizens Police Academy to be of
interest to them.

Something new being added to the Citizens Police Academy this year is
training available in a program the Sheriff's Office is coordinating called
the Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT. It is similar to the old
Civil Defense, which had a long history of training volunteers to help out
in local emergencies. Those trained in CERT could supplement
first-responders in certain emergency situations.

"The CERT program gives specific training in basic disaster response skills,
such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and
disaster medical operations," said Pohlmann.

Borchers, head of Community Relations for the Sheriff's Office, runs the
Citizens Police Academy classes and coordinates Neighborhood Watch programs
and the National Night Out Against Crime event for the department.

Anyone who wants to start a neighborhood Watch on their street, hold a Night
Out against Crime get-together or apply for the sheriff's Reserve Division
should also call Borchers.

About 650 parish residents have graduated the Sheriff's Citizens Police
Academy in St. Bernard since its inception in 1999. This is the seventh
class for the program since Hurricane Katrina and more than 200 have
graduated those previous sessions, said Borchers

There are numerous features to the Citizens Police Academy program which
participants say they enjoy, such as:

- Hearing from sheriff's commanders on various phases of law enforcement
including patrol work, narcotics enforcement, detective duties, SWAT team
demonstrations.
- Receiving boating safety tips.
- Experiencing a firearms simulator program which has participants react to
computerized scenarios which ask them to make split-second decisions on
whether to shoot a criminal defendant.
- Hands-on demonstrations of equipment including the new sheriff's
high-water truck purchased with a grant and used in rain events, weapons and
a robot used for checking suspicious items are also part of the program.

- On-site tours of Parish Prison and the new renovated parish Courthouse.
- Lectures from law enforcement agencies from outside St. Bernard

The classes will feature speakers from the FBI and the federal Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and are geared to fostering good
relations between the community and law enforcement.

The information in this article and picture were provided by the St. Bernard
Sheriff's Office Director of Public Information Steve Cannizaro.



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