
DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711080102

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: COVER STORY 

SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  162 lines

CITIZEN BACKUPAT THE SUFFOLK CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY, EVERYDAY FOLKS LEARN TO BE AMBASSADORS FOR THE CITY'S OFFICERS.

THE 9MM BERETTA was cold; the palms gripping the semiautomatic sweaty.

``Don't be nervous,'' coached policeman Allan K. Iversen Jr., standing beside me as I shut my right eye. The target 10 feet away blurred slightly, but truth stared clearly in my face:

I'd never join the ``thin, blue line,'' I knew, because I wasn't prepared to fire at another human.

But we were not being groomed to be police officers. The members of the city's first Citizens Police Academy were learning to be ambassadors for the more than 100 men and women on the force.

Chief Jimmy L. Wilson had invited us to take a first-hand look at police work. Forty hours of training wouldn't give the 25 civilians any edge for those who might yearn to wear the officer's badge.

``But it will make you some highly informed citizens of Suffolk,'' said Lt. Kyle W. Holmes, who coordinated the four-week session. ``It's nothing at all like you see on TV.''

Holmes, head of the community services section, had lined up nearly 40 volunteer teachers - off-duty police officers and instructors from outside the department.

We learned to shoot the police-issue Beretta, rode with patrol officers, studied laws of search and seizure, toured the regional jail and the communications center, examined crack cocaine in plastic bags, and watched divers recover a dummy drowning victim.

We learned how detectives investigate murders, rapes and robberies, how police investigate fellow officers, and how they deal with the mounds of paperwork and the relentless stress.

An officer is always on guard, even off duty.

The next driver stopped for speeding could have a gun in the car, as Bruce Elliott discovered while riding with patrolman Marcus Young.

An officer could be knocked unconscious, as Chas Peterson - the department's training officer - was in 1995 while chasing a fleeing suspect. Or he could be attacked, as Sgt. Joseph Destefano was while trying to arrest a murder suspect. Or he could be shot, as Lt. Tommy Vann was years ago.

But even worse for some, Peterson said, is hearing the radio suddenly cackle, ``10-01'' - the code for an offi

cer needing help. Adrenalin starts pumping, as the listeners rush to the aid of a fellow officer.

Nationwide the suicide rate, drug use and alcoholism by police officers had sykrocketed recently, Peterson said. The average life expectancy for law enforcement officers is 59, - two decades less than that of the general population, he said.

``That statistic is unbelievably scary,'' said Peterson, who also led our firearms training.

But having citizens involved in the police department will make a tremendous difference, he said. ``You're helping us. Y'all don't realize how good this is for us.''

Community policeman Junious H. ``Jay'' Jackson II also understands the importance of support from the public. Once he responded to a call to a big fight on East Washington Street and saw two armed men in the crowd.

``Two guys came up to me and told me, `We're going in with you,' '' he said. ``They told everyone, `Leave him alone. Let him do his job.' ''

Thanks to them, he was able to get handcuffs on the fighting duo and quell the near riot.

After a strenuous shift, an officer has a hard time calming down from the stress. And no one, even a spouse, can understand what the officer has experienced.

Some handle the stress better than others.

Others apparently crack under the pressure.

Only two Suffolk officers had been arrested in his first 19 years on the force, said Lt. W.M. ``Wally'' Bunker, head of the detective bureau and a 20-year police veteran.

``This year, we arrested two,'' he said.

The second case has not been through court yet, but the first - Darien L. Brannen - was convicted of extortion in June for selling police information to a former drug dealer.

``It broke my heart to watch him take money and stuff it in his sock,'' Bunker said. ``But he's crossed over the line, and he's tarnished my badge.''

If a police officer abuses his power, he betrays the trust the citizens have in him, Bunker said.

``You expect more out of us,'' he said, ``and you should get more out of us.''

Drugs have affected every aspect of today's society.

Drug use makes people steal and take other desperate measures, said Lt. Tim Davenport, head of the detective bureau's special investigations unit.

``The drug of choice in Suffolk is crack (cocaine),'' he said, ``because it is easily concealed and it's easy to make money off of it.''

But marijuana is also making a comeback, he said, passing around samples of various drugs for the class to see in sealed, plastic bags.

Many police departments, including Suffolk, have implemented community policing to help combat the escalating crime rate, much of it caused by the rise in drug use and other changes in society.

``It's the most popular concept in law enforcement and also the most successful,'' Chief Wilson said.

Police and citizens, working together to prevent problems, can eliminate conditions that contribute to criminal activities, said Wilson, who has been in office since January.

A strong advocate of community policing, he hopes to expand the unit, adding more officers to help find creative ways of solving problems of crime, disorder and neighborhood decay.

``To have an effective community policing (program), every individual officer should be trained and must be a community police officer,'' he said. ``We all have to be problem solvers.''

Police officers are often the most visible presence in a community, the first city official a newcomer sees.

The community police officers are often the most visible individuals in the department, working in the communities and getting to know residents.

``We don't like putting people in jail,'' said Jackson, the city's first community police officer. ``We want to win your trust, trying to build a bond. But if necessary, we are going to do it.''

For community policing to work, the community must be involved. That's one of the main reasons we were ``recruited'' to join the team.

The 25 members of the first academy - men and women, young mothers and retirees, school teachers and merchants - had signed up for the session for many reasons.

Jack Brantley and Wendy Hill want to know how their downtown neighborhood associations can work even more closely with police to make their areas safer. James Dailey hopes to better protect his business. Patricia Lucier and Regina Thornton would like to facilitate changes in their neighborhood.

School resource teachers Nancy King and Lovey Lyons want to know all they can to help foster relations between the schools and police. Tonya Holland is fascinated with law enforcement, hoping someday to become an officer.

A few, perhaps, wanted to know how to get out of speeding tickets, said Kimberly Ham, class spokesperson at the academy graduation last month.

``But we didn't find out how to do that,'' she said.

She hopes to start a Neighborhood Watch program in her community. And she knows she can count on support from the officers.

``From the firing range to the jail, we couldn't help see their dedication,'' Ham said.

We left, armed only with our framed certificates, determined to support the effort to make our community a safer, better place to live and work. MEMO: For more information or to sign up for the next Citizens Police

Academy, call 925-6350. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos including color cover by MICHAEL KESTNER

Sun staff writer Susie Stoughton is congradulated on completing the

first Citizens Police Academy course.

A graduate of the Citizens Police Academy walks down the ``blue

line'' of Suffolk police brass receiving congratulations on

finishing the initial course.

Academy graduate Wendy G. Hill talks with Police Chief Jimmy L.

Wilson over cake and punch.

Suffolk Police Officer P.C. King puts a little zest into the job of

serving cake to the academy graduates.

A graduate of the Citizens Police Academy walks down the ``blue

line'' of Suffolk police brass receiving congratulations on