My co-worker, Angie Cregg, mentioned to me that there is a Citizen’s Police Academy class offered through the City of Muskegon so I thought it sounded interesting. I told my friend, Rhonda Collins about it and she was nterested in it so all three of us signed up for the class. Originally, we signed up for the fall session but it got cancelled due to not enough people signing up. I was happy when the class was a go for this spring. It’s a 10 week class that’s meets every Wednesday night from 6-9. At the end of the class, we have the opportunity to ride with an officer for his shift which is what I am looking forward to doing. Our first class was a visit to Central Dispatch. We learned about the operations and that there is a year long training before you become a dispatcher. I think this job would have to be a high stress job. Each dispatcher alone has 5 computer monitors on their desk long with a telephone and responds to our 911 calls. The first thing you always want to give the dispatcher is the location of your incident. Tonight, we learned about traffic stops and what to do for them. Police should mark their hand on the suspects trunk so the DNA is present in case they are shot. That shows who responded to the incident. Also, stand near the car so you can see what’s inside the car such as weapons and drugs. There is a lot to think about when you are an officer. It truly is not an easy job.
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