All Blog Posts Tagged 'citizens'' (12)

Citizens' Police Academy: Narcotics Squad-Part Two

(Cross posted to Working Stiffs) While heroin is by far the biggest drug problem in Pittsburgh, it isn’t the only one. Crack cocaine is manufactured “in house” by cooking powder cocaine and baking soda into a solid “rock,” which is then smoked. Crack is generally more potent than the powdered form, since the cocaine needs to be rather pure to create crack, whereas the powder can be cut with other ingredients, diluting its strength. A… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on December 11, 2008 at 12:26am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Narcotics Squad-Part One

(Cross posted to Working Stiffs) The one session of Citizens’ Police Academy that I missed last time around was the Narcotics Squad. This week, I made up that session. When Sgt. Doug Epler started unpacking his props, I sensed this was going to be interesting. I was especially intrigued by a car battery sitting on the floor among the cases and boxes of drug paraphernalia. Was there a mad scienti… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on December 4, 2008 at 12:40am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Firearms Tracking Unit

Cross posted to Working Stiffs (With special thanks to Detective Jill Rustin of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police Firearms Tracking Unit for her assistance with this post.) The new class of Pittsburgh’s Citizens’ Police Academy is in session and I dropped in to pick up a segment that wasn’t offered last time. Detective Jill Rustin spoke about the Firearms Tracking Unit. In Pittsburgh at the time of her presentation, the Pittsburgh Police were… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on November 19, 2008 at 11:19pm — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Graduation

(Cross Posted on Working Stiffs) After fifteen weeks of Citizens’ Police Academy, it’s over. We graduated this week and are now Citizens’ Police Academy alumni.

The ceremony was quite nice. Not the pomp and circumstance of some graduations, which is a good thing. We were allowed to bring guests, so… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on June 12, 2008 at 12:28am — 1 Comment

Citizens' Police Academy: Final Class

(Cross posted to Working Stiffs) This week was our final Citizens’ Police Academy class. I don’t think it has sunk in yet that our group’s time together is almost over. We’re a diverse bunch with a variety of motives for taking the course, but we’ve all bonded over the experience. Our last class was another two-parter. For the first hour, we listened to Sgt. Keith Nemeth and Detective Sheila Jeffri… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on June 5, 2008 at 12:20am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Crime Lab

(cross posted to Working Stiffs) This week’s instructors opened the class with a question: How much of what you see on the CSI shows do you think is real? I, of course, having studied Lee Lofland’s book, knew the answer was “almost nothing.” In fact, cases are lost because people expect things to be like what they see on TV. They have a name for it: “The CSI effect.” In Pittsburgh, the guys who go out and collect evidence are called the Mobi… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on May 22, 2008 at 1:59am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Bomb Squad

(Cross Posted to Working Stiffs) Citizens’ Police Academy this week was a real hands-on experience. Maybe a little TOO hands on. But I’ll get back to that in a minute. The topic was “Recognizing the Explosive Threat” and our instructors were Detectives Andre Henderson and Sheldon Williams of the Bomb Squad. Class began with a Power Point presentation and lecture. The Pittsburgh Police Bomb Squad ha… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on May 14, 2008 at 10:17pm — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Terrorism and Gangs

I’m a little late posting this, but hubby and I were away for a few days on a much needed vacation. (Cross posted on Working Stiffs) We had another two-parter this week, beginning with Detective Ashley Thompson’s presentation on CAT Eyes, or Community Anti-Terrorism. It’s a nationwide program developed to eliminate racism and terrorism through educatin… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on May 12, 2008 at 6:06am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: Something Old/Something New

(Cross Posted on Working Stiffs) This week’s Citizens’ Police Academy was a two-fer. A little bit of something new and a little bit of something old was presented during our field trip to the training center. Relatively new to Pittsburgh is the Crisis Intervention Team. Unlike SWAT, this is not a “response” team. Rather it’s a “collaborative” team in which the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on April 23, 2008 at 10:28pm — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy: SWAT!

Cross posted to Working Stiffs

The guys from Pittsburgh’s SWAT team tried to convince us that their job isn’t glamorous, but let me tell you, they do get to play with some really cool stuff. Their presentation was so fascinating that while I started out scribbling notes like crazy, pretty soon I got so wrapped up in listening and watching the vid… Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on April 16, 2008 at 1:30am — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy Driving Quiz

Are you a good driver? Do you know the rules of the road? Then come over to Working Stiffs where today I report on week #7 of my Citizens' Police Academy experience and offer a quiz on driving laws we should all know. Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on April 9, 2008 at 10:37pm — No Comments

Citizens' Police Academy

I've been attending the Pittsburgh Citizens' Police Academy for the last six weeks. Today and every Wednesday, I am posting about the experience over on Working Stiffs. Come on over and comment or ask a question. Continue

Added by Annette Dashofy on April 3, 2008 at 12:48am — No Comments