The spring 2016 graduating class of the Alexandria Citizens’ Police Academy. Photo Contributed
The Alexandria Citizens’ Police Academy is a 10-week course hosted by the Alexandria Police Department (APD) to offer citizens a better understanding of how the department works. Throughout the course, participants sit in on emergency calls and ride along with police officers on patrol. In the 11th week, 16 citizens graduate from the program.
After 10 weeks of education in the role of the Alexandria Citizens’ Police Academy, 16 students graduated from the program.
Police Chief Earl Cook praised the work of Virginia Obranovich, the volunteer coordinator who runs the program. While the academy started in 1995, the program was cut during the recession due to a drop in budget funding. Cook said the program was reignited when Obranovich approached him and asked what he needed. He advised Obranovich that the program needed to be restarted, but that it had to happen within 90 days, with all volunteers and no cost to the taxpayers. With Obranovich’s management and additional volunteer assistance, the program was reborn in 2012.
“Every Wednesday, it was a great experience,” said Hal Hardaway, one of the graduates. “I’d encourage everyone to take this.”
Ankit Bhurtel, a graduate of the program, said it was a learning experience and that he’ll be back on June 4 to apply to be an Alexandria police officer.
“It was a great perspective on what you guys do,” said graduate Ephorm Freeman III. “I’m going to be one of the biggest advocates for what you guys do.”
The 10-week program is held Wednesdays from 6:30 to 10 p.m. The application to join the Citizens Police Academy is available on the Alexandria Police Department website.
PUBLIC INFORMATION
If you’ve ever interacted with the Alexandria Police on Twitter, odds are, you’ve talked to Crystal Nosal. Nosal is Alexandria’s public information officer (PIO), in charge of communicating details of police activity with the community. This information can range from correcting misinformation about a case to alerting the public of a potential threat in an area.
Nosal said police communications is a balancing act between what the public needs to know and what the public wants to know. While Nosal said the public needs to be aware of police activity, the other side of the coin is that the PIO is still tasked with preserving the sanctity of an investigation or a crime scene.
Alexandria Police are particularly active on facebook and twitter (@AlexandriaVAPD), with nearly 8,000 tweets and 24,000 followers.
SCHOOL RESOURCE
With 2,619 students on the King Street Campus, T.C. Williams High School is a city to itself. Jesse Meekins the school resource officer (SRO), is assigned to keep everyone in the mini-city safe.
“It’s a lot of mediating and problem solving,” said Meekins. “It’s not about locking kids up. We work with the schools. We have to develop relationships with administration, students, and parents.”
Meekins says the job can be rougher than people might expect from working in a school. Meekins says he’s been kicked in the head, and other SROs have been punched both accidentally and deliberately.
Meekins says the violence has started to calm down in schools, reaching a peak in 2009 and 2010. Other daily work involves crowd control and occasionally confiscating contraband.
“With 600 kids in the cafeteria, it’s like a beehive in the mornings,” said Meekins.
School administrators can search students based on reasonable suspicion, but like any police officer, Meekins says SROs must have probable cause. In situations where administrators suspect the student has a weapon, the SRO is called out to supervise the search. Lately, most of what Meekins’ been confiscating have been pocket knives. For blades three inches or longer, it’s a criminal charge. In the past, Meekins says they’ve confiscated everything from tasers to ninja swords.
As with any other city policing, T.C. Williams has it’s share of unusual cases. Meekins recalled one incident where a boy was arrested in school for raping a girl. As it turned out, the two had consensual sex but she grew jealous when she saw him post a status on social media about another girl.
“In the last year we’ve had arrests for weapons, drugs, sex … you name it,” said Meekins. “It’s a hard job. You put out a vacancy and no one bites. It’s hard working with kids.”