CPA - Day 4

Tuesday was day four of citizen police academy. The homicide bureau traded spots with the identity theft and fraud unit. So, on the agenda we had collision reconstruction, identity theft and fraud and the domestic violence unit.

It was interesting to me that the collision reconstruction unit does not use accident reconstruction software. At least nothing about that was mentioned. It’s all math and physics and sketches. They do have a machine that takes measurements and can map out the area on the computer but that’s as far as it went. Collision reconstruction fascinates me. I love math and science. I’m just horrible at them.

The identity theft and fraud unit was interesting but all stuff I pretty much knew. We had an officer come into our work to speak about that last year. Still, it was a good refresher. Always cover the input pad when you’re typing in your PIN. Never give out your PIN or password to anyone especially if you get an email asking for it. Doesn’t matter if it looks like it came from your bank. They don’t need to ask for that information. They already have it. Shred bill statements and bank statements. Don’t make public any information that can be used to steal your identity such as your birth date. He didn’t mention this, but I know this from working in payroll. NEVER give your SIN to anyone other than your employer, your bank and on credit card applications.

The domestic violence unit was what I expected as well. They handle a very large volume of cases. I hope one day the unit won’t be needed anymore but I have my doubts. I write about the horrible things people can do to each other and I don’t think people being horrible to others will go away.

I need to get some work done. Day five should be interesting. I try to post that one on time.

Until next time…

Cindy

CPA - Day 3

Last night was the third class of my citizen’s police academy. It was a full night of information and presentations. Not quite as exciting as the hands on stuff from last week but still very interesting.

The C.A.S.A. unit was in first. That’s the Child Abuse and Sexual Assault unit. I’m glad I don’t have children. The number of sexual offenders in the Halton region shocked me. With 157 in the region there are 27 in the city I live in. Of course no one knows exactly where they are. Only the police know that. The list of people on the Ontario Sexual Offender Registry cannot be disclosed to the public. And I get why, but I’d still want to know.

Next up was the commercial vehicle unit and the speed measuring devices. These two presentations mostly covered accidents. I got three things out of this. I will never speed again. I will make sure there is nothing in my car that can become a projectile at the right speed. And commercial vehicles make me more nervous now than they did before. I don’t like seeing them on the road even though I know we need them.

Last was a day in the life of a police officer. Great stuff for my writing. It’s the little things that make a book ring true and I got some great bits of information during this presentation. Everyone knows about the paper work. But there are other things I can add to my characters to make them more true to life. For example my character will remember, like it was yesterday, his first call on his own. He’ll remember the 6 a.m. runs and then diving into classes at the police college.

Can’t wait for next week. There were a few no shows again, increasing my chances of having my name selected in the ride-a-long draw. Only four more classes to go for that.

I must get to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

CPA - Day 2

Well, where do I start? Day 2 was the scenarios day. We started right at seven and were barely seated five minutes when we were split up into four groups and taken to different stations for various scenarios.

My first station was the range! I wanted to do that first so I was thrilled that’s where my group got to go first. It was very cool. I had never fired a gun before so I was a little nervous. There were a people who got to shoot before me so I could hear the gun shots while the rest of us waited. They’re really loud. A gun shot is one of the scariest sounds I’ve heard. We had to wear body armour. It was very light weight. And of course there was the protective eye and ear gear. Even with the ear plugs and the mufflers (looked like headphones) over my ears I could hear the gun loud and clear when I fired it. The instructor’s voice sounded far away though. I got the first four shots right in the target area.  The fifth shot, the one I was thinking about, the one I squeezed off fast, went low, outside the target area.

There were so many things I wanted to write down when we did the traffic stop. And the other scenarios but of course my binder and pen were in the auditorium. It would have been difficult to write it down anyway. I should have brought a tape recorder. I’m hoping they do a quick review or recap next week and make some of the same points.

The firing range was definitely the highlight for me. The other stuff, the scenarios, I pretty much knew and I have access to law enforcement people I can ask questions of. But the hands on gun handling and shooting, I could never get that by asking someone. I was surprised my hands didn’t shake when I held the gun. The instructor said I had a good grip. Though I knew there would be recoil I was surprised at it anyway.

Can’t wait for Day 3. Now, I must get to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

CPA - Day 1

Last night was the first class of Citizen Police Academy (CPA) and it was great. I knew it would be an interesting twelve weeks and day one proved it. There were three presenters for day one. We got a little of the responsibilities of the Police Services Board. A little about the Chief of Police. And even more about police training.

The police training presentation was great. The presenter was very energetic. Great sense of humour. He gave us a lot of information in a little bit of time. I didn’t know that the Halton Police had to re-qualify for firearms and defence training (with the Taser, the Pepper spray, etc.) every year.

Next week’s class will be even more exciting with the students being put in “situations” and trying to handle them as a police officer would. I just hope I can maintain perfect attendance for the first seven classes. If I do that my name gets put in a draw for a ride-a-long with a uniformed police officer. I would LOVE to do that.

Well, must get to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

Citizen Police Academy

I’m thrilled to have been accepted to the citizen police academy. Classes start tomorrow. The classes are run through Community Policing/Public Safety Education. During the twelve week course we’ll learn all about policing in our neighbourhoods. Topics we’ll learn about include: use of force training, interactive training scenarios, firearms demonstration, a day in the life of a police officer, identity theft and fraud, intelligence and many more.

The writer in me can’t wait for classes to start. I want to have perfect attendance for the first seven classes so my name can be put in a draw for a ride a long. I’ll be taking copious notes for the whole course. Anything could spark an idea, help a plot problem or be something I need later on.

I’ll be giving updates on some of the things we learn in later blog posts.

Now, must get to work.

Until next time…

Cindy

Back to the grind and other stuff

I find it hard to go back to a five day work week after having two long weekends in a row. Last week was great, only working three days. But now it’s back to work. Five days a week. I really think they should implement the four day work week. I could totally get used to that. Of course if they did that it would probably mean longer days for the four days I worked. Hmmm. Maybe I don’t want a four day work week.

Didn’t get much done on the weekend. A lot of marathon watching. As in the Doctor Who marathon on Space on Saturday and the Stargate: Universe marathon on Sunday. Love those shows. Not sure about this new doctor though. I’ll give him a chance because I love the show but I LOVED David Tennant. He was my favourite doctor.

Now, I must pick my first book to read for the month. I already know what book I’m going to read second. I’m just waiting for it to arrive in the mail. First, I need to get to work. They kind of insist you show up and do work for 7.5 hours.

Until next time…

Cindy