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Bentley College Police Concludes Citizens Police Academy

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Posted by: fscpd907

Campus Police concludes Citizens' Police Academy



By: Matthew Wagner

Posted: 5/1/08

Bentley's Campus Police department has recently concluded their inaugural Citizen's Police Academy program. The ten-week program, believed to be only the second campus citizen's police academy in the country, drew 12 attendees, including both students and staff members.

The program was aimed at educating the campus about the role of Campus Police. Although some erroneously believe Campus Police to be a "security" agency, they are an accredited police department with full police powers on property "owned, used or occupied " by the college, thus covering our campus, the surrounding area, and even off-campus events attended by Bentley, such as sporting events. Waltham Police and Bentley Police also have an excellent working relationship: we occasionally make use their holding cells for the few arrests made on campus, as well as for students taken into protective custody. Meanwhile, Waltham Police sometimes attend training events held on campus .

The departments also sometimes share resources: one Waltham officer commented that they routinely called upon one of Bentley's bilingual officers to assist them with translations. Campus Police also belongs to a number of policing groups, such as NEMLEC, the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, a coalition of 49 area police departments which work together, such as maintaining a SWAT Team .

The school also works with other college police departments in communicating on crime trends, as well as matters such as predators and thieves targeting college campuses.

The Citizen's Police Academy addressed a wide range of topics .

Participants toured Bentley's police station as well as Waltham Police Department, and visited the Waltham 9-1-1 center, where all of the emergency calls for the city are routed. Waltham officers addressed the subjects of criminal and constitutional law, as well as courtroom procedures. After presenting a framework for understanding the issues, officers fielded a number of questions from students.

Presenters made a concerted effort, however, to keep the program hands-on wherever possible. When Waltham officers came to speak about drugs, they brought the training materials they use for training police officers, including seized marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. Department policy mandated that two officers supervise the handling of the drugs, which were sealed in clear bags, but students in the program were able to examine a variety of illegal drugs. For example, they passed around two bags of white powder. One contained baking soda and the other contained cocaine. The two looked surprisingly similar, although the cocaine was slightly more crystallized and had an off-white hue. Unscrupulous drug dealers have been known to not only "cut" their cocaine with flour to increase profits , but to sometimes just sell baggies of flour or sugar .

Officers also showed pictures of past drug seizures: over the years, several Waltham residents have been arrested after they attempted to grow marijuana in their front yards. Officers also spoke about the troubling trend towards drugs being marketed at increasingly young ages, with high-school students being arrested for dealing ecstasy and drug dealers attempting to get children hooked on heroin.

Officers also addressed the issues of use of force. Officers carry a number of tools used for self-defense, including pepper spray, a baton, and a gun. While officers at Bentley very rarely have occasion to use these, they maintain training to make sure they're prepared. A training video on pepper spray showed that it was remarkably effective: a police officer posing as an aggressive criminal was sprayed and almost immediately hunched over, unable to keep his eyes open. Students also participated in a number of demonstrative exercises with fake weapons. An officer and a student engaged in a mock duel, demonstrating why officers are sometimes quick to draw their gun in dangerous situations: whoever pulled their weapon out first would always be the first to shoot. To further illustrate the issue, officers explained what's known as the "Twenty-one Foot Rule," having a student with a rubber knife charge at an officer armed with a holstered toy gun twenty-one feet away. When running, the student was able to reach the officer before he was able to draw and fire his gun in defense.

Bentley's Chief Leffler spoke to the class about the Clery Act, a federal law mandating that college campuses provide an annual report concerning crimes on campus. He discussed some of the 2007 statistics with us: last year, Campus Police took 16,182 calls (an average of 45 a day), wrote 948 incident reports, had 80 reports of theft, 72 reports of vandalism, 102 alarm activations, 141 medical calls, took 60 people into protective custody, and made 6 arrests.

Another course on patrol procedures was perhaps the culminating experience of the course. A Waltham lieutenant spoke about the various steps in a traffic stop, many of which don't meet the eye. Officers are careful to park closer to the road than the car they stopped, making it more difficult for an inattentive driver to run them over. As Waltham's Officer Stephen Taranto told us, "99.9999%" of the people they encounter are "good people having a bad day," but the remaining 0.0001% are the ones they stay up at night worrying about. That small handful of people are the ones that, if pulled over for even a minor traffic infraction, are liable to produce a gun. Since officers never know who they're stopping, they must approach every vehicle cautiously. Waltham's Lieutenant Robillard stressed what he considers one of the most important tips: "Watch their hands ."

After the brief presentation on patrol procedures, we went outside to the parking lot between Smith and Lindsay, where program participants played the part of police officers, approaching Lt. Robillard on a traffic stop. In my case, I was told that a call had come in for someone parked outside a home around 10pm, beeping incessantly and shouting. My "partner" and I approached the car, taking note of its occupants. For a moment I spoke with the driver, who apologized for the noise and told me he was waiting for a friend, and eagerly offered to show me his license. It took me a moment to remember the advice to watch their hands, but I was glad I did: as one hand waved his license around, I observed that the other was picking up the toy gun next to the seat.

In the end, program participants were left with a better picture of just what Campus Police does, but also agreed that, although being informative, it had been great fun


Posted by: Loyal

Be it a college, a jail or a PD, I think these "citizen academies" are politically correct, not necessary and a waste of tax dollars. The money spent on these programs could absolutely be better spent.


Posted by: frank

It's about community policing. It also boils down to educating the public and opens up more federal grants to the department. The benefits can easily outweigh the time and effort put into it. If scheduled properly, overtime isn't really a concern.

I know it's hard to see that when you know the job because you're actually doing it...but trust me, they have their place, otherwise they wouldn't be being held.


Posted by: robodope

I think it's a good idea for several reasons. I believe anytime you can give the general public an idea of what you do they are more supportive and more willing to support you during times of contract disputes etc..Especially in town meetings where anyone can stand up and give their two cents, and the different entities in Cities and Towns are fighting over where the budget money is going. And secondly..no one really knows all the good Police work some College PD's do because it doesn't jive with the false crime stats, and the idea nothing happens on these College campuses so your kids are totally safe. I think it shows how well trained the officers are and some of the things the officers encounter on a day to day basis.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

frank and robodope got it absolutely right. I've never been 100% on board with the whole community policing thing at a college because I've always felt that if you get TOO close with students, you kind of take away the edge when you need it. You're looked at like a PAL and a PAL wouldn't shut down a party of lock up a student who's friend is buddies with the cops. It's like the real world, familiarity breeds contempt, but a LITTLE familiarity does go a LOOOOOONG way and good relations are NEVER a bad thing.


Posted by: Loyal

I see your points, but disagree that the few participants in one of those classes carry much clout when it comes to grants or things that directly involve us.
I would assume that the people who take these classes already support us; as evidenced by their interest in the citizen police academy. I know of several wives, aunts and other relatives who have gone. So do civilian PD employees... Buying them golf shirts, having them shooting our weapons, etc is unnecessary in my opinion.
I respect your opinions, but still consider citizen police academies to be nothing more than a touchy feely waste of tax dollars. Police will get funding for needed grants with or without citizen police academy classes.
If anything, the money spent on these classes could be better spent on new computers,tasers, etc...


Posted by: frank

Uh, I went to a CPA for a department that I didn't work for - I didn't get any golf shirts, I didn't get to shoot any guns, and as far as I know, no overtime was spent.

So, unless the PD was planning on renting out their academy room and collecting money that way, I'm not sure how you think they spent money on it that would be better spent elsewhere - unless you wanted to use the paper from the copier as targets at the range or something like that.

The grants come from the federal government. While I don't know anything about them, the grants for things like community policing, community use space which would help to pay for renovations to the police station, etc. A department in MA or RI recently got a federal grant to help pay for renovations because they had a community use area in the station, which made their application look better than a PD that did not.

While I agree with you that money spent on new computers or tasers is well spent (if the particular city would even go for it), if it's under the payroll budget rather than the equipment budget, unless the city approves it, nothing is going to happen.


Posted by: Loyal

Frank, ask about it from officers from various departments next time you go to IST - at least one department I am aware of pays over time to the CPA instructors to bring the students to FATS shooting, night time shooting and to bring them on tours. The students are also given CPA embossed golf shirts at the tax payer's expense - it happens and is wasteful and not needed in my opinion.
If it was not coming out of my pocket as a taxpayer, I wouldn't care - but it does, so I do


Posted by: frank

Gotcha. You're right...sounds like the admin is going overboard.


Posted by: Pacman

Our instructors are paid OT or Time Owed for their teaching in the CPA. We're currently running our 22nd or 23rd CPA. We let them shoot our weapons, we show them the most basic of police tactics, and they buy their own golf shirts. That much is 100% dead on. Stating that most of the attendees are sycophants is not however accurate, at least not in my experience. I've personally taught some of the classes and i've had some real left wing liberals in the classes. I find that generally there is a healthy mix of new citizens, sycophants, liberals, and genuinely interested people in the classes. But anytime I can turn one into a possible future witness or maybe educate them as to what they might see on tv or the web regarding police officers then that's a good thing as far as i'm concerned.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

A) Does a little good PR hurt anyone?
B) Aren't those attending 'taxpayers"?
C) Doesn't it change a FEW minds as to who you are and what you do?
D) Does it really do any harm in the long run?

I've said before, sometimes this Community Policing goes a little too far and as for colleges, Community Policing is WHY WE EXIST! It IS all about giving the community what they want. It does sometimes go a little too touchy feely and does sometimes breed TOO much familiarity, but the big picture says it's a good thing and any department that doesn't take advantage of some form of Community Policing is shooting itself in the foot.

My hometown used to (maybe still does) run a camp for kids. I neither know nor care what it costs me as a taxpayer, I just know that the cops get to know some of the same kids who 5, 10, 15 years down the road might cause some mischief or turn into real scumbags, but if they know some of the cops and the cops know some of them to think that won't work in the favor of law enforcement is just naive.

And hell, if it is OT, well, who on this board is going to complain about another potential source of income? NOT ME! Even if I'm not going to get it, I will never begrudge a brother/sister from reaping the benefits of a good program.

We've had RAD at my dept. for years. I did teach briefly (let my certification expire-MY bad). Some complained that only certain people got the benefit. Sorry, ANYONE who wanted to become an instructor could become one. I've never been a part of the 'inner circle' and even I got to become an instructor. Bottom line with RAD is, if even one woman is helped, we all win.

Bottom line with any form of RAD or Citizens Police Academies or what have you, if we have a shot at generating some good will AND making some extra money, there is no way you can call it bad in my humble opinion.


Posted by: Loyal

Kilv, good points. I simply think the money should be spent on other things. Officers who do their job fairly,obtain much of the same goodwill for their department as the CPA classes do.
There is only so much tax money to spend..touchy feely classes should not trump tangible equipment or officer training. Anyone over the age of 10 knows what the police do. Common sense and life experience will form their opinion of us.
How did we survive all these years without this ? Sheriff Departments, etc, also have these classes.. a fortune of tax dollars, that could be spent on cruisers or other things, are being spent instead on these dubious citizen police academies.
I respect your opinion; maybe I'm just frugal and old school.


Posted by: new guy

I think it depends on what your expectations are. If you're looking to get a little positive PR and build some good will between the citizens and the police than it is a worthwhile initiative. You also have to keep in mind that alot of Community Policing grants require PD's to offer these types of programs. I've yet to see an evaluation of the DARE program that shows that it actually has a long term effect on reducing drug use but I still hope that it will be offered to my kids. At very least, it exposes young children to the police in a positive setting which can have other positive consequences down the line.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loyal View Post
Kilv, good points. I simply think the money should be spent on other things. Officers who do their job fairly,obtain much of the same goodwill for their department as the CPA classes do.
There is only so much tax money to spend..touchy feely classes should not trump tangible equipment or officer training. Absolutely Correct and that is a point I would never disagree with. EVER! Anyone over the age of 10 knows what the police do. That is one point I have to say I only agree with partially. We all know that the average person watches TV and sees EXACTLY what the police do-or so they think. If it's a city cop, they're always running around chasing felons and getting into gun fights. If it's a college cop, he's just locking doors and nothing more. Most people don't have a clue what we REALLY do, any of us. Delta has the quote (and I think I"m paraphrasing) "Police work is the only job where people who don't actually do the job know it better. How many times have you had to explain why you can't lock up someone who just clocked a victim before you got there? How many times have you heard, "WHY DON"T YOU ARREST HIM???" and had to explain the various reasons until you finally just walked away before you severely beat the person asking? These little academies explain this stuff in advance, hopefully and make people realize what the real world of police work is like. Boring most of the time, scary as hell once in a while. Common sense and life experience will form their opinion of us.
How did we survive all these years without this ? Sheriff Departments, etc, also have these classes.. a fortune of tax dollars, that could be spent on cruisers or other things, are being spent instead on these dubious citizen police academies.
I respect your opinion; maybe I'm just frugal and old school.
I respect your opinion as well, seriously. You make some excellent points and I'm really not thinking I know better. I don't know squat sometimes. And again, community policing tends to sometimes go too far and if it's ever at the expense of training and/or equipment for the cops, it's out of line. Take care of the troops THEN do the touchy feely stuff. NEVER the other way around.


Posted by: new guy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilvinsky View Post
I respect your opinion as well, seriously. You make some excellent points and I'm really not thinking I know better. I don't know squat sometimes. And again, community policing tends to sometimes go too far and if it's ever at the expense of training and/or equipment for the cops, it's out of line. Take care of the troops THEN do the touchy feely stuff. NEVER the other way around.
Whether your for or against these types of initiatives I think that we can all agree that a departments operational needs should always come first.


Posted by: Delta784

I have mixed feelings about CPA's. They're an excellent public relations tool, but as someone already mentioned the people who volunteer to attend are most likely pro-police to begin with.

What I'd like to see is mandatory CPA attendance for all city & town officials with decision-making authority.....mayors, city councilors, selectmen, town managers, etc. Maybe tie it into Federal funding to make it mandatory.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta784 View Post
I have mixed feelings about CPA's. They're an excellent public relations tool, but as someone already mentioned the people who volunteer to attend are most likely pro-police to begin with.

What I'd like to see is mandatory CPA attendance for all city & town officials with decision-making authority.....mayors, city councilors, selectmen, town managers, etc. Maybe tie it into Federal funding to make it mandatory.
That's an excellent idea. I once watched a program* where people were asked if police were too quick to use thier guns. The folks in the study mostly answered "YES". Then they used the FATS machine and one woman in particular who had been adamant that the cops were trigger happy, fired about 20 shots at a purse snatcher as he ran away from her in a crowded park. When it was pointed out to this dingbat that a cop would NEVER have fired even ONE round in this situation, she readilly agreed that, maybe the Police WERE a lot more prudent in the use of deadly force than she believed (and it was revealed to the world what a dangerous MORON she was!).

Delta, your idea would be a potential God send, especially in cities like Cambridge and Northamption and the Town of Brookline, all bastians of utopian liberalism.

*this show was from about 20 years ago and Peter Falk hosted it but damned if I can remember much more about it. Anyone out there remember this program?


Posted by: aneva28

Well said. I like Bently College PD. Some of them are nice and they have nice cars. As for Lt Robillards comment LT I know you beat that into our heads in the AUX. "WATCH THEIR HAND" I couldnt agree more with him. Lt. Robillard use to be in charge of training in Waltham PD so I know that this Citizens academy was great he is a great person to learn from. All I can say, is for the people that went to the Citizens academy that wanted a career in Law Enforcement. Join the Waltham Police Auxiliary Unit. They get all their training throught MPTC certified officers and Waltham has their own Res Int Acad.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

Quote:
Originally Posted by aneva28 View Post
All I can say, is for the people that went to the Citizens academy that wanted a career in Law Enforcement. Join the Waltham Police Auxiliary Unit. They get all their training throught MPTC certified officers and Waltham has their own Res Int Acad.
Braintree used to have a top notch Aux. Police unit, but it was done away with. Looking back, I can see where Auxiliaries can get carried away, but that's only because they haven't been "seasoned" and as part-time, unpaid officers, they often never do. I miss my time as an Auxie. I learned a lot and fully enjoyed my experience. With the right training and guidence, it's a fantastic resource for the full time people.

Citizens Police Academies ain't perfect, but like I've said before, it's a great way for the cops to get to know some of the locals in a different situation and give them a little training so that you have some better prepared eyes and ears should the poop hit the fan and you need: A) A witness for you., B) Maybe an extra set of hands (and no, I don't mean the senior citizens!); C) Someone to keep an extra eye on their own neighborhood.

Never sacrifice money for the cops for the C.A., but never ignore the benefits of a C.A. if you can afford it.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilvinsky View Post
Braintree used to have a top notch Aux. Police unit, but it was done away with.
Count me as one who used to wear Chief Monatiquot (plus the three-inch high "AUXILIARY" rocker above) on the left shoulder, crossed old ladies at church, and rode in M-8 on weekend nights. Some of the "brass" were real douchebags, but it was a pretty good group of guys when I was there from late 1986 to early 1988. I had barely done my mandatory year and got appointed as a "special" to do details when I got called for the academy and had to quit.

Quincy used to also have a pretty comprehensive auxiliary contingent, but they got carried away with themselves (having a child rapist currently in DOC custody as "chief" probably didn't help) and got two-in-the-hat from one of the chiefs (I forget who) in the late 1990's. They too had some decent members who suffered for the sins of their leadership.


Posted by: Kilvinsky

Quote:
Originally Posted by Delta784 View Post
Count me as one who used to wear Chief Monatiquot (plus the three-inch high "AUXILIARY" rocker above) on the left shoulder, crossed old ladies at church, and rode in M-8 on weekend nights. Some of the "brass" were real douchebags, but it was a pretty good group of guys when I was there from late 1986 to early 1988. I had barely done my mandatory year and got appointed as a "special" to do details when I got called for the academy and had to quit.
I was there early 1979- late 1980 and left for the same reason. The brass was pretty good when I was there, at least as best I can recall. I look back and thought how great it was to get paid details for $9/hour! I grabbed everything I could and loved each and every detail.

Now of course, I only LIKE a few of them and do it just for the money. I'm such a whore.


Posted by: Delta784

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilvinsky View Post
I was there early 1979- late 1980 and left for the same reason. The brass was pretty good when I was there, at least as best I can recall. I look back and thought how great it was to get paid details for $9/hour! I grabbed everything I could and loved each and every detail.
I can't remember what the detail rate was back then....less than $18 per hour I'm pretty sure. We used to get the suck details the regulars didn't want....Bickford's from Midnight-4am, 5 Corners Traffic, etc.


Posted by: rg1283

Westwood Auxiliary Police work details unarmed. Who would have thunk a town police department unarmed?




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