Jacksonville Public Safety Citizens Academy

I was accepted to participate in the Jacksonville Public Safety Citizens Academy and tonight was my first night.  This class lasts for 6 weeks, from 5:30 until 7 pm each Thursday.  I will probably write a little about each night as a reminder to myself of what I'm learning.  The Jacksonville Public Safety building houses both the police department and the fire department offices, along with traffic and communications.

April 5th
    There's only 8 of us here for the class.  We were introduced to the program by the chief of police, a police sergeant, and the assistant Fire Chief.  We were taken to the traffic department first where we saw all the traffic cameras on the major intersections around the city and how they control traffic problems that come up.  This was an entire huge wall of live video. Amazing to see your city from this perspective.  We were reminded that these cameras are not used for law enforcement purposes, but only to help traffic flow.

     We heard from the communications director about the 911 system and the new technology coming in the next year or so.  Some phone carriers are using text 911, but many are not using it yet.  Eventually skype to 911 will be available.  In the near future land lines will be obsolete as systems improve.

     Fire Station One is connected to the public safety building, so we were shown around the living quarters and kitchen area for the firefighters. It was fascinating to hear that they have a device on the front of each truck that can start the light cycle changing before they get to a light, so that they can have green as they get closer to the intersection.  Not foolproof of course, but definitely helpful.  Fire departments have to be certified and have to comply with certain response times to be certified, and this system helps them stay in compliance.


April 12th

    Only 4 of us tonight.  Tonight we were taken to a training "studio" where a computer program called "Prism" is used as a training simulator.  They have laser equipment (9mm gun fitted with laser) to give them the opportunity to face real life scenarios and practice what their actions should be.  The trainer runs the scenario on the full screen and the trainee reacts to the individual scenes as he/she is trained using the laser equipment.  The program has approximately 4000 different scenarios that can be used.  Tonight we saw
 1. Active shooter in a hallway, with bodies on the ground.  The officer has to act according to what he is seeing and within a few seconds.  In this case the officer kills the shooter who is aiming at him with a rifle.
2.  Officer is checking business doors to check for security and finds someone in the building who doesn't belong there.  The man moves forward toward the officer with a knife in his hand and the officer has to react to protect himself by stopping the offender. 
3.  A  couple arguing at a picnic table in the park. The woman is swinging a baseball bat around. When she is told to put the bat down, she turns around and is hugely pregnant.  He kind of left us hanging on that one, saying no one wants to shoot a pregnant woman.  Talking down a situation is an art and they need the "gift of gab." 
4. An officer doing a welfare check on a woman in her home. The officer has no idea who is in the house or if there is a danger.  The woman pulls out a knife to kill herself and the officer has to talk her down and still check the house for other danger.

In each situation, the trainer is able to tell the trainee how long it takes them to react (within split seconds) and exactly where their bullet hit to take down the bad guy.  The Sergeant who is with us each night takes the time to answer all of our questions.  In each case where the officer's or other lives are in danger, they shoot to kill.  I asked that question: Is it always shoot to kill?  The Sergeant's answer was, If I need to stop the danger to myself and others, I will do what I know will stop them.  Shooting an arm or a leg or shooting the weapon out of their hand is no guarantee that they will be stopped. There's your answer.

Here's a link to a Youtube video of a similar product:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCY93NBKpHU

The sergeant told us that police like law abiding citizens that have concealed carry permits (which we do in this state).  He explained how this can be a way of protecting yourself and family (self-defense) but also explained how it should not be used.   I asked for clarification on that because at first they were describing using your gun and causing a problem.  So, why have concealed carry?   For example, if you're in Walmart and there's an active shooter, you do what you need to do to get you and your family to safety.  If you have to defend yourself in that process, so be it.  BUT, after getting your family to safety, Don't go back in with your gun drawn.  Then you become part of the problem, when law enforcement gets there and don't know who is who.

http://www.ncdoj.gov/getdoc/19be6294-bfbf-4875-bbef-ac2ebb6f47b2/2-6-3-6-3-Concealed-Weapon-Reciprocity.aspx

It was a very enlightening night.  I had a respect and admiration for police officers before this, but it has grown immensely.

Well, that's just the first two weeks.  Other nights will concentrate on the Fire Department as well.  As I'm still a new North Carolinian, I have questions about Volunteer Fire Departments!