ONESHIFT CIT Y O F M O BIL E P UBL I C S AF E T Y E M P LOYE E MAG A Z I N E
Issue 2, November 2021
SALUTE TO OUR VETERANS Serving is Their Main Mission
REAL TALK IN SCHOOLS:
Family Intervention Specialist lays down the law on bullying, cyberbullying & sexting
GIRL SCOUT DAISIES GET SPECIAL VISIT WHAT IS GROUND ROAD KILL?
THE LEADERS’ MESSAGE BOARD A Message from Public Safety Director Lawrence Battiste
Greetings, I continue to salute all of the city’s Public Safety Department personnel. Your continuous service, often under some very difficult and challenging situations, is commendable and very much appreciated. Standing and working together as one unified mechanism of the city’s ever-spinning wheel of service, we have accomplished much and will continue to offer the high quality of service that our citizens and business community have grown accustomed to. We are the epitome of what public safety means to our citizens, families, and the vast number of visitors that frequent our city. Congratulations respectively, to the Officer of the Month and Civilian Employee of the Month for the Police Department and the Firefighter of the Month. Your contribution to promoting the safety of our city and the efficiency of your respective departments is appreciated.
P
ublic safety is a collaborative service effort of the city’s police and fire departments to provide the optimum value of service to our communities.
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“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.” - Winston S. Churchill Continually, you and your families are in my prayers for safety and blessings as we continue navigating our way through life. Humbly appreciative to each of you,
Fire Chief Jeremy Lami Veterans Day is a celebration to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good. Happy Veterans Day to all of you who have served or continue to serve in the Armed Forces. It’s an honor to wear the uniform on behalf of the USA and I know all of our veterans feel a tremendous amount of pride from their service. Thank you for your service! John Maxwell is one of my favorite authors and a recent quote I read resonated – “You don’t have a job. You have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives!”. All of us have an opportunity to make a difference. Externally, we certainly impact the lives of those we serve, but we also must remember the difference we can make internally through mentoring and positive leadership. Lead from where you are. Sincerely appreciate all of you,
Police Chief Paul Prine
Hello and greetings from the Chief’s Office. On November 11, 2021, we as a nation recognize and honor Veterans Day. I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to ALL the veterans of the Armed Forces who volunteered their time, energy, and efforts in serving this great nation. I would like to especially recognize those veterans who not only served their country to protect our liberties and way of life but who also went on to serve their community with the Mobile Police Department. It is that patriotic spirit that thrives in our country, and our community, through each of you who never hesitated or wavered in your commitment and resolve to serve. To each of you who served and continue to serve, let me say on behalf of the Mobile Police Department…THANK YOU! “Mission First”
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THis Issue Contributors
HERE TO STAY
Deputy Chief Dwayne Penn, Sr. MFRD Support Captain Chad Sprinkle MFRD EB01 Sergent Chris Reed MPD Special Victims Unit
Sergent John Young MPD Digital Compliance Detail Sergeant Nick Crepeau MPD Homicide Unit Firefighter James Haymer MFRD Station 14 Officer Alisha Davis-Sonnier MPD Identification Unit Katina Randolph MPD Family Intervention Team Shatonya Nicholson MPD Records Unit Coleen Tittle Curd MPD Communications Unit Ruth Grant MPD Records Unit Stacey Woodyard MPD Victim Services Unit Tonya Calhoun MPD Office of the Chief
Editorial Staff
City of Mobile Public Safety Charlette Solis Public Affairs Manager Steven Millhouse Public Information Officer
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Staff members of the MPD Victim Services Unit (VSU) thank leadership for advocating the permanency of their unit. On October 9, 2021, the VSU was officially transitioned into the merit system. The mission of the VSU is to treat victims with fairness, dignity and respect while providing them with information, access and support in partnership with community resources and the justice system. Staff members said they have enjoyed working closely with detectives, officers and MPD staff. They look forward to continuing their work together to serve victims of crime. Be on the lookout for upcoming events sponsored by the VSU, Office of Strategic Initiatives. If you need victim services assistance, call 251-208-6384 or email victimadvocate@cityofmobile.org.
FACE TO FACE WITH ACCEL Bridging the Gap Program Back to In-Person Training
Officer Matthew Butler and Officer Nathaniel interact with students during a traffic stop scenario.
It’s a Friday morning around 9 o’clock and the weather is unusually warm for an October day. Coming around the bend to the Metro Firearms Training Facility is a Chicksaw City school bus. Officer Joanne Watson steps onto the bus to welcome the 22 students. They are from Accel Academy and the first group of students to participate in the Bridging the Gap program this school term. In 2020, COVID-19 disrupted many school activities, including Bridging the Gap. So it was an exciting time for the MPD Office of Strategic Initiatives to begin again facilitating the interactive training in its original format. Four scenarios are set up, allowing officers and students the opportunity to engage in dialogue.
Officer Nathaniel McCarty, Officer Matthew Butler, Officer Jeffrey Taylor and Officer Bobby Napier made the students feel comfortable to ask any question. Through role-playing, the students learned valuable lessons of what is expected of them and the officer during a law enforcement encounter. Bridging the Gap is a national program created in 2015 by the FBI, MPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Alabama. The purpose of the program is to bring youth and law enforcement together to learn about each other and rebuild mutual respect. In the weeks ahead, several other schools are scheduled to come out for the training.
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FOCUS MAGAZINE - 6
Public Safety Photo of the Month MOBILE CITY COUNCIL APPROVES NEW POLICE CHIEF APPOINTMENT ON OCT. 12 FOCUS MAGAZINE - 7
FULLY INVOLVED Community Risk Reduction Raising the Bar
All fire departments are good, but the MFRD is “GREAT”. Fire departments across the land have always put the most important resources as the focus in order to enhance and improve safety. The MFRD has taken additional steps to raise the bar and make keeping the citizens’ safety paramount. Community Risk Reduction (CRR) by definition is a process to identify and prioritize local risk, followed by integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce the occurrence and impact of fires and injury or loss of life. In short, CRR works to identify potential harm to the community and to reduce if not eliminate those harms. This is done not by one blanket measure but is broken down into individual communities block by block. Utilizing census data, GIS information, and other software allows for an accurate geographic and demographic picture of any potential risk. CRR collaborates with internal and external entities to be effective but remain efficient. Next, CRR prioritizes the incident from high risk to low risk along with the possibility and probability of occurrence. For instance, CRR would review an occurrence of a hurricane response or
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extreme flooding before an earthquake or wildland fire. Then, CRR develops strategies or a plan to completely prevent the incident. In some cases, when the incident cannot be prevented, they work to mitigate or reduce any negative impact. CRR utilizes education, engineering, enforcement, emergency response and economic incentive to empower the community to remain safe. CRR works to leverage concerns by getting external stakeholder input and to assist with the most critical parts of the plan. Finally, your MFRD is being great in that we are not just being reactive but constantly working to be proactive in our approach to safety. Best practices and all safety standards are considered to find the best solution for each and every community within the City of Mobile. CRR reviews and evaluates what happened 10 years ago and 5 years ago in hopes to forecast what will happen today and the upcoming years. They then use every measure possible in hopes of achieving the best positive outcome. From the fire chief to the last person hired, CRR works on your behalf to keep your safety and wellbeing a top priority.
DISPATCHING THE CALL New Hires in the Communications Unit
Annelese Damoff
Magen Englett
Mary Louise Fitzgerald
The Mobile Police Department Communications Unit welcomes its recent new hires. Five public safety dispatchers have completed their three weeks long new hire class and the weeklong Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) class, in addition to becoming Alabama Criminal Justice Information System (ACJIS) certified. They are all super smart and super excited with their new career choice. We are thrilled to have them! They have worked so hard Christopher Lunsford Jr. Jessica Smith and are already showing great department. She also thanks Lifelines promise in becoming awesome public safety Counseling Services, which the public safety dispatchers. Their extensive training will dispatchers work closely with on a regular continue to take place over the next 11 months. basis. RCO Curd gives a huge shout-out to It consists of call taking, radio training and PD Lieutenant Leland Terrell, Sergeant Paul Main operations. Workman and Officer Brad Penton who showed them an amazing time at the range as RCO Coleen Tittle Curd said that she’s well as Commander Kevin Levy for allowing expecting great things from them. Curd thanks them to see how Cyber works in person. RCO all the speakers who took time out of their Curd stated they have all helped make the new busy schedules to educate the new hires on the class a huge success. various positions throughout the police O N E S H I F T M AG A Z I N E - 9
THE SPOOKIEST DISH WHAT IS GROUND ROAD KILL?
On October 26, the MPD Identification Unit had its annual Halloween potluck. During this potluck, the dishes are meant to be festive in nature. The following are the two awards given for the food contest: Spookiest Dish and Best Overall Dish. The Spookiest Dish is judged on appearance and presentation. The more gross, spooky, vile, or disgusting in appearance the better.
Officer Albert White
Melody Brown
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Best Overall Dish is judged on taste and overall Halloween/Fall presentation. This dish does not have to be gross or vile in appearance as long as it is festive, and, of course, tastes great. The winner of Best Overall Dish was Melody Brown with her chili. And, the winner of Spookiest Dish was Officer Albert White with his Ground Road Kill. Ground Road Kill is Rice Krispies treats with red velvet cake mix.
REAL TALK IN SCHOOLS
Family Intervention Specialist lays down the law on bullying, cyberbullying & sexting Katina Randolph is a family intervention specialist. She visits several schools throughout the school year teaching students, parents and staff about the consequences of words and actions. The presentation covers bullying, cyberbullying and sexting. Most students and even parents are unaware of the laws surrounding such behaviors. Randolph explains that bullying is classified as harassment, which is a Class C Misdemeanor. Cyberbullying is a Class C Misdemeanor of harassing communication, and sexting is classified as Material Harmful to Minors (13A-12-200.5). Distribution of a private image (13A6-240) is a Class A Misdemeanor and a consequent conviction is a Class C Felony. Sexual Extortion (13A-6-241) is a Class B Felony. Students are also informed that possession of and disseminating obscene visual depictions is a violation of Alabama Criminal Code 13A-12-192, disseminating or publicly display is a violation of Alabama Criminal Code 13A-12-191, and producing it is a violation of Alabama Criminal Code 13A-12-197. So far this year, Randolph has presented to students at the Alabama School of Math and Science with the assistance of Sergeant Jeremy March and to the seventh and eighth graders as well as the parents at Burns Middle School. She often gets her attendees to role play in order to demonstrate the effects of bullying, cyberbullying, and sexting. These interactions have proven to be effective and students have stated that they appreciate the presentation. O N E S H I F T M AG A Z I N E - 1 1
GIRL SCOUT DAISIES get special visit
Officer Tiffany Monte helped the Girl Scout Daisies earn their Respect Authority and Respect Myself and Others badges. She was invited to the troop’s Officer Greet and Meet held at Springhill Presbyterian Church on October 4. Officer Monte was asked to talk about the good and tough parts of her job, how to act around police, and safety stuff related to how they should report it if they feel they are being abused or someone is making them uncomfortable. The troop leader said Officer Monte was amazing with the girls and they gave their full attention and absolutely loved having her.
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MOMENTS TO CHERISH Children of the PD Family
The Mobile Ballet began the 20212022 season with “The Princess and the Frog” at the Saenger Theatre on October 16-17. The daughter of Corporal Ryan Blakely and daughter of Sergeant Nick Crepeau danced in the magical production. Victoria Blakely, 17, is pictured in the left photos (one with her father ). Natalie Crepeau, 12, is pictured on the right. O N E S H I F T M AG A Z I N E - 1 3
HAYMER’S MAIN MISSION
At the Toulminville Fire Station 14, you will find Firefighter James Haymer. With three years at MFRD, he’s looking forward to completing paramedic school in December and future career advancements. Haymer also serves in the United States Air Force Reserve. He shares a bit about his experiences. How long have you served in the military? “I’ve been in for 8 years as a Technical Sergeant/E6. I was deployed in 2019 to Ali Al Salem, Kuwait for 6 1/2 months.” What has been your most memorable experience in the military? “My most memorable experience in the military was when I deployed and earned my first achievement medal. It made me feel like my work didn’t go unnoticed. It was the first real accolade in my military career. Also, promoting overseas was probably my next choice. Being able to finish all my
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requirements while working the number of hours per day and being able to promote felt good.” How did you become interested in MFRD and becoming a firefighter? “I became interested in MFRD around the year 2012 but never really made that jump to want to become one. I finally decided to try it out and got hired on at Prichard Fire Department in 2016 and left there to come over to MFRD in 2018.” What does it mean to you to be a veteran and having served your country? “It means a lot to me to be able to serve the community and also serve in the military. Serving in the military has opened a lot of opportunities for not only myself but for my family. Wanting to change the dynamic and make a positive impact is the main mission. It’s hard to make changes from the outside looking in. If you want change in the world, then you have to be the change!”
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SALUTE
VETER
District Chief Jim Cox MFRD, EMS Coast Guard
Driver William J. Holmes Jr. MFRD, TA27 Air Force
Captain Kevin Rodgers MPD, Precinct 2 Marines “Semper Fi”
Sergeant Michael James MPD, Precinct 1 Army O N E S H I F T M AG A Z I N E - 1 6
Captain Robert Mark Stewart MFRD, TC10 Air Force
Firefighter James Haymer MFRD, Engine 14 Air Force Reserve
Officer Travis Sentelle MPD, Precinct 3 Army
Firefighter Rosston Butler MFRD, Engine 19 Marines
TO OUR
RANS
Captain Pat Howell MFRD, EA11 Coast Guard Captain Howell served 28 years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He retired in 2018 from the Gulf Strike Team, which is an all-hazardous response team that responds to events of national significance. He says making positive impacts and helping others through lifechanging events in the U.S. Coast Guard and now with MFRD has been very rewarding throughout his response career.
Captain Will Sibley MFRD, 360th CACOM Army Reserve Captain Sibley says he joined the fire department for the same reason he joined the Army— for the excitement and adventure. It turns out both are very similar. He says he has had the pleasure of serving with great people and some world-class personalities.
Chaplain Ed Connick MPD & MFRD Army Chaplain Connick was drafted in 1966 until 1968 and served in the Corp of Engineers Vietnam.
Captain Rodrick Shoots MFRD, Ladder Truck 24 Army Serving in the military gave Captain Shoots the opportunity to witness real leadership and camaraderie, which he is able to display in his role as fire service captain.
Sergeant LaDerrick Dubose MPD, Mayor’s Detail Marines Sergeant Dubose served active duty from November 12, 1988 to November 12, 1992, and was inactive reserve until January 1995. He was awarded the Combat Action Ribbon for Desert Shield & Desert Storm. O N E S H I F T M AG A Z I N E - 1 7
Halloween at Spencer-Westlawn
Director Battiste, Firefighter M. D. Jones, Officer Gary Owens and Cadet Harris participate in the Spencer-Westlawn Halloween event. They help make the students’ day special and hand out treats.
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Class 66 Gets Take-Home Patrol Cars
Class 66 Officers Andrew Quick and Marcell Sanders are two of the 14 rookies issued their takehome patrol cars on October 29. Watch Officer Reagan Clegg’s interview with Fox 10 Reporter Lee Peck as she shares the meaning of this milestone and what she’s looking forward to next.
DEALS & DISCOUNTS
MFRD Captain Chad Sprinkle would like to pass along some savings to his fellow first responders. Here are four websites he has used over the years that give police, fire and military discounts. • Govx.com • Oakleysi.com • Expertvoice.com • Guidefitter.com
Also, Academy Sports + Outdoors is currently offering 10% off to first responders and military.
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Honors &
Congrats!
OFFICER OF THE MONTH
SEPTEMBER 2021
Radwan Habibi Fourth Precinct
October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
In recognition of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office selected Detective Christopher Main as the Officer of the Month. Detective Main has been a law enforcement officer for over nine years and currently serves as an investigator for the MPD Domestic Violence Detail. He believes that law enforcement is a very rewarding career and he works hard to ensure that victims of domestic violence receive the help and support that they need.
FAITH SHIELDS by Ruth Grant
FIREFIGHTER OF THE MONTH
SEPTEMBER 2021
Captain Michael J. Smith Central Fire Station
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The phrase “count your blessings” is short yet so powerful. When the focus is on appreciating what you have and giving thanks for those things, it opens up an opportunity for more. Hence if you’re faithful over a few things you will also be faithful over much more. Give thanks for what you have and enjoy it with family and friends this Thanksgiving season.
Career Day at Old Shell Road Magnet School
Crime Prevention at Fonde Elementary School
Shatonya Nicholson, MPD Records Specialist, shows off her children’s choices for Career Day at Old Shell Road Magnet School. Camairus, 10, chooses to be a police officer and Chrissett, 5, is a doctor.
Officer Gary Owens gives a crime prevention presentation to 160 students at Fonde Elementary School. Cadet Haley prepared giveaways for each class: a police badge, coloring books and Charm pops.
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