The 14th Westfield Citizen’s Police Academy began this week.
A silver-haired Sergeant Eric Hall directed 17 people, including me, into the classroom and dove into information about provided about the Westfield Police Department.
My attendance and interest came from when I was emailed me by Sergeant Hall, who wrote: “It is clear she doesn’t have a strong understanding of how and why police officers do what we do”
“I am greatly concerned with your views about the law enforcement officers,” Hall wrote to me.
He then extended an invitation to me to attend the Citizens Police Academy to gain more knowledge about the department.
“The purpose of this course is to provide members of our community with an inside look at law enforcement,” he said. “The goal of the Citizens Police Academy is to provide a greater awareness and understanding of law enforcement’s role in our community and an understanding of operations and resources of the Westfield Police Department.”
Hall cracked a few jokes to ease some tension in the class and offered us refreshments, paid by the local drug dealers, he laughed and guided us through the syllabus.
Hall explained that the largest problem he had was with the state of the police department building itself and the resources available.
“We have simply outgrown it,” Hall said.
The class filtered out of the police department and visited the 911 dispatch center. There we learned 911 protocols and took a brief look at the equipment used to assist callers.
All and all, the class was extremely informative and I greatly warmed up to the idea of taking more classes that will explore different tactics and resources used by the WPD.
Erika Hayden is a WSU student, citizen journalist and grassroots writer.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not the staff, editor, or publisher of this publication.
