Learning the Ropes

Brian Terry, Sergeant with the St. Charles County Police Deptartment

Photo by Brett Auten

By Brett Auten

It’s not like what you see on television or in the movies. And it’s a lot more than just driving around in a car.

County residents who are interested in getting an up close and personal look at police work are encouraged to take part in an upcoming Citizen Police Academy.

The St. Charles County Citizen Police Academy is a 14-week program designed to provide participants with a first-hand look into the department’s daily operations and the law enforcement profession. Participants will learn about patrol functions, special operations, use of force, cybercrime investigation, firearms, crime scene investigations, police K9s and more.

Eligible participants must be at least 21 years of age and a resident of St. Charles County, possess a valid Missouri driver’s license and satisfactorily complete a background check. Registration opened this week and closes on Aug. 13. There is no fee to participate and classes are held on Mondays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., starting Sept. 10. There are accommodations in place for people with disabilities. If you require special accommodations, communicate those needs in advance so that the SCCPD can evaluate the request on a case by case basis. If there is a portion of the program that you are not comfortable participating in, no problem. Safety and enjoyment of the program are paramount and you will never be asked to participate in an activity or training session that makes you uncomfortable. However, there is a requirement that you attend at least 80 percent of the training

sessions to graduate from the program. This the third year of the program and the previous two years have been a hit.

“It is more than just sitting in a classroom, they are brought into our environment and we move them through all of the different scenarios,” SCCPD Chief David Todd said. “It’s not the glamour that they see on ‘NCIS.’ It can be dirty. It can be messy. This is what it really is.”

Todd is hoping to get a wide variety of applicants.

“We’re trying to get different cultures to come,” Todd said. “Not just our white residents, but we’d love to get Hispanics to come, Asians, Muslims, because we service everybody out here and we’re trying to do better.”

Brian Clay is a sergeant with the SCCPD and is the Community Education Division supervisor. He said that one of the most significant challenges in law enforcement is that myth and folklore that surround the job.

“It’s really hard for the average citizen to

differentiate between what’s reality based on what they see on television or what they’ve heard or what they’ve read versus what is reality,” Clay said. “In my opinion, one of the best advantages of our Citizen’s Academy is, when these groups of citizens go through the program when they’re done they always comment on what they’ve learned and how many myths were busted. It’s really an eye-opening experience for them.”

Clay has seen all sorts of professions come through the program from doctors and clergy members to artists and homemakers.

Bryan Hampton is the SCCPD Laboratory Director. He said the response from the public had been a positive one and it is an excellent opportunity for him and his team to demonstrate the real-life capabilities of a crime lab.

“Even though we’re smaller – we only have four scientists on staff – we do a lot of

the same testing that a larger, metropolitan lab like St. Louis or Kansas City does,” Hampton said. “They all like to hear about the DNA testing and what we can do with that. We also have a firearms collection that they can see and talk about those.”

Daniel James is with the SCCPD Crime Scene Investigation Unit. He and his team will construct a mock crime scene for the Citizen Academy members to process.

“People do like the crime scene because they feel like they can actually do something that we do,” James said. “We usually set up a burglary scene with some kind of assault that has happened. We have blood splatter, and we have fingerprints they can process, a broken window, a bullet in the door. We let them in, have them look around. They take some pictures, place evidence markers down.”

And it is a bonus if the academy members take the knowledge and spread it to neighbors and friends.

“They become kind of like brand ambassadors,” Val Joyner, Public Affairs Officer with the SCCPD, said. “When we look onto our social media accounts and people are putting misinformation out there, we have had Citizen Police Academy members say, ‘No that’s not it. This is what I know to be true.’ It shows that the program is effective because they don’t just come through and it was an experience. They carry it with them.”

If you have any questions or are interested in applying, email SCCPDCitizenAcademy@sccmo.org, or by contacting Val Joyner, SCCPD’s public affairs officer, at 636-949-3057.