by Jeff Quibell
10. March 2010 10:52
Stop for a moment and think about the city services paid for with our tax dollars. Most of us give little thought to the services our city provides that enhance the quality of our lives.
Really, when you think about it that is exactly the way it should be. When the services we need are readily available, we tend to take them for granted. Our city provides a long list of community services. Basic items include water, sewer, streets, lights, parks and police.
Recently, Wanda and I graduated from the Citizen’s Police Academy. We were participants in the “Fifth Element” class, a name the class gave ourselves to designate that we were the fifth class to complete the program. This program, conceived by Chief Wayne McCoy in response to recent citizen surveys and supported by City Administrator Eric Johnson and Mayor Carson Ross, provides each of us the opportunity to learn about our police department and the services it provides to make each of us safer. It also instructs us on ways we can help to make our police department even more effective by providing citizen support.
The classes include training on report writing, evidence collection, courtroom procedures and building search techniques. Demonstrations of the capabilities of our tactical team (STAT), K-9 officer and bike patrol are also part of the training. Participants get the opportunity to study real-life threat situations in the Fire Arms Training Simulator at Metropolitan Community College-Blue River and to receive first-hand firearms training on a live firing range. Upon completion of the coursework, participants will have completed the training to receive a concealed carry weapon permit. Additionally, each student participates in a ride-along with an officer.
I am proud to have completed the course and to live in a city that has such dedicated professionals. At our graduation, we shared our favorite memory of the classes. The common thread was a realization that our Police Department personnel love their jobs and work hard to serve our community professionally and respectfully.
If I have piqued your interest, consider attending the academy. Contact Sgt. Allen Kintz at (816) 220-4576 to have your name placed on the waiting list. There is also a new Youth Police Academy beginning on April 13 for youth ages 14 to 18. Contact Officer Doug Heishman at 228-0178 or go to www.bscpa.org for more information on this new class.