0512 Citizens Police Academy
All of us depend on a structured society to provide a framework of security and orderly existence. Security and orderliness take for granted the existence of authority. Any exercise of authority demands applied moral standards and ethical behavior by those charged with upholding that authority.
Normally, individuals and families experience life locally first. They wake up every morning with an expectation that their home has not been invaded and the family is safe. As parents head off to work and children to school, there is an expectation of safe travel. Every time they come back home, there is an expectation that all will be as they left it. Even in the sometimes negative experience of holiday shopping, there remains an expectation of social interaction that is orderly and ethically positive.
It would be wonderful if all of us had time to sit down every morning and negotiate with everyone who contemplates taking advantage of us throughout the day. We could all decide which side of the road to drive on for that day or how to satisfy another person’s desire to have or damage our property. Of course this assumes that everyone wants the best for everyone else and that once the flaws of, say, assaulting someone are verbalized, the desire to strike out would be satisfied and simply dissolve.
Unfortunately, this side of Heaven, life just doesn’t operate that way, even on the most local level. In reality, the authority to impose moral standards and social order must be entrusted to a few select people who are willing to stand beside those who do right and oppose those who would do wrong.
Holland has one of the finest of this select group in our police force. Until recent years,Holland residents had no way to understand the men and women who guard our well-being. Now, through the Citizen’s Police Academy, there is a way to glimpse into the world of local law enforcement.
The Academy walks students through thirty hours of exposure to police operations. Each of the ten sessions is centered on a specific theme beginning in the first week with an overview and a tour of the police department. Beginning in week two the pace picks up with explanations and observation of Ottawa County 911 during full operation and the Fillmore jail system. Weeks three through six cover patrols, the detective bureau, narcotics, gangs, traffic enforcement, use of force and S.E.T.
Weeks seven through ten deal with special areas of concern. Students learn about probation work and the court system. They are exposed to issues such as domestic violence and victim services from the law enforcement side. In the last weeks, a K9 team shows its stuff along with instruction in crime scenes and evidence. Presentations are given by the reserve police officers unit and school resource officer. In the midst of this and much more, students begin their required ride-along with a patrol officer. The Academy is truly a unique opportunity for the community to know some of their guardians.
The most amazing part of the Academy however is experiencing the officers. Many of them are fairly young, but they all seem to have an innate sense of the responsibilities they shoulder in applying society’s moral codes, including a show of force if necessary. Their professionalism is top-notch. Many times they are forced to deal with abusive or dangerous behavior and they do it honorably, treating perpetrators with dignity as much as the situation will allow.
If society is to utilize authority to ensure the blessings of freedom, security and order, it must have front-line operatives. In Holland, our front-liners carry out their sometimes difficult tasks with heart and ability that one has to see to understand.