CPA – Day 7

Last night was Day 7 of Citizens’ Police Academy. All the days have been interesting and I can’t say that any one day is more interesting than another. Last night, however was one of my favourites. It started with the homicide unit, part of the major crimes bureau. Lots of great information there. We learned the statistics of course. Statistically, 82% of homicide victims are murdered by someone they know. I was happy to learn that 87% of the homicides in my region were solved last year, or maybe it was the year before. That’s higher than the national average of 85%.

Next up was the intelligence unit. OMG, it was so good. Loved it. The officer speaking was amazing. He had so much energy, loved his job even though it can get tedious. He made it sound like intelligence was the best thing ever. Since I want to eventually write spy thrillers I was on the edge of my seat when he broke down how a case would go from start to finish. I was also very surprised to find out that witness protection is handled under this unit.

Our third speaker was from the guns and gangs unit. Lots of stuff to look out for. I’ll be paying a lot more attention to graffiti now. And paying special attention to groups of people using hand signals that aren’t standard sign language. Gangs are everywhere and if you think your neighbourhood isn’t affected get your head out of the sand and pay attention.

The last speaker was with the drugs and morality unit. He loved his job too. His favourite part of the job was the undercover work. I gotta say, that intrigues me too. Maybe that’s why I liked the intelligence guy’s talk so much too. Lots of undercover work involved in that as well. So the drug and morality unit handles drugs, illegal gaming, sex trades.

It was a great night even though I did not win the draw to go on a ride-a-long. http://www.cindycarroll.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif

I’m off to get some actual writing done.

Until next time…

Cindy