Second night of Citizens Police Academy and I felt MUCH more confident driving up there.... I knew where I was going and who all was gonna be there. It was a good group - people were laid back, not afraid to ask questions and make comments, so we had citizen input as well as from the police. Makes it more engaging, I think.
OK, tonight’s Vice and CSI - should be interesting. CPL Jason Adkins is an intelligence investigator in the narcotics division, part of an 8-man team. They had only 6, and recently added two. CPL Adkins was able to provide us with an amazing amount of information in a short period of time, without me ever once being bored. And I have the attention span of a gnat sometimes.....lol. Since a major portion of crimes committed in our area are drug related, his focus was there.
We discussed how the DPD gets a lot of information about the community, and this was information that was surprising to me. I suppose I always knew that informants were paid for information, but I had no clue where the money came from - it comes from seized funds. When the DPD makes a bust, and there’s cash confiscated, they keep that money in the department, or a part of it. Then, it’s used for informant payments, as well as other things. Multiple slideshows of drug busts were really interesting - how many places CAN one hide cash and drugs, anyhow?? Amazing how much energy is spent on being creative there. Sheesh.
We saw various drugs that had been confiscated recently, along with the paraphernalia that goes along with that lifestyle. And, learned that all this stuff needed to use drugs - the pipes, bongs, papers, rolling machines and other stuff is STILL being sold in convenience stores and specialty stores in the Wiregrass. Sad.
He also touched on how working vice affects families - the hours are so very erratic, and things change fast. For example, it’s 6 pm, and your wife may be expecting you to appear at 7pm for a dinner party. The informant that promised to meet you at 5 pm with information about a drug dealer STILL hasn’t shown up. It’s called “doper time”.... they have no schedule, no need to be anyplace at a specific time, and no real concept of time. They may or may not show.
Cooking meth has a sweet acetone type smell and is VERY volatile. Laws monitoring the sale of pseudoephedrine at drug stores has cut the number of meth labs in this area DRASTICALLY. The down side of that is that more purely manufactured meth is now coming in from Mexico.
The stories that CPL Adkins shared with us were a mixture of amazing, funny, sad, real and pathetic. He’s got a way of relating the information to us in a straightforward way, with little embellishment, but a gritty realism that’s kind of uncomfortable, if that makes sense.
Next up was Jon Thomas, with the Crime Scent Unit. Dothan now has two crime scene technicians, our very own CSI - and their presence has made some major improvement in crime scene processing. In the past, the first officer on the scene of a crime was responsible for not only interviewing all suspects, but also canvassing the area for witnesses, interviewing them, and collecting all the evidence needed to successfully prosecute the crime. That’s a LOT for one person, considering the circumstances.
Now, we have two CSIs - but is that enough? I mean, what if one of them gets sick? The newer officers coming on board with the DPD haven’t come up through the system where they had to collect evidence and process a scene, so their skills aren’t as developed as some of the more senior officers. And since Houston County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have a counterpart, they’re called on to help out when there are major crimes in the county as well.
Jon showed us some of the “roadside test kit” items used to determine what substances are, some are like “handi wipes” in little envelopes, or q-tips with testing fluid inside - sprays and fogs - an interesting array of tools used to test for blood, body fluids, gunshot residue, drug residue (only a single GRAIN of some drugs is needed!).
He also discussed some of the innovative, cost-saving solutions they’ve developed to provide the same results we see on TV shows, but at a minimal cost. Using a hand-made tent to cover a body to “tent” it instead of spending scarce funds on it.
The technician is responsible for the scene, while the investigator is over the whole case. This has greatly increased the prosecutibility (?) of crimes, mainly due to the collection, custody and storage of evidence.
We had the opportunity to see how fingerprints are actually lifted from a surface, as well as actually do it ourselves - pretty cool stuff!
And then, some of their more unusual equipment, like the laser shot trajectory kits - just like you see on TV. We also saw examples of blood spatter patterns, how they’re made and what they look like. This part is *not* for the squeamish. Word.
A few miscellaneous bits of information - Now, DNA is more widely used to prosecute as opposed to latent fingerprints. Sadly, DNA results from our state’s labs takes approximately ONE YEAR to get back right now, due to a backlog. ONE YEAR. And, four out of ten people using fingerprint powder regularly will develop lung cancer. Merchants that frequently clean their counters, doors, windows and any other surface that a criminal might touch stand a MUCH LARGER chance of having a useable fingerprint lifted than those that don’t. Luminol (used for detecting blood) has reacted with stored evidence revealing blood TWENTY ONE YEARS after the crime. 21 years later - it still reacted. Gunshot Residue testing is common, accurate, and very simple to conduct.
On deck - Traffic, Enforcement and DUI next week.
Springergrl - the story that SGT Ott told about the man hiding his crack in his crack was comical. especially since the buyer stuck it straight in his mouth after the purchase not knowing where it had been....LOL
I didn't realize that if a person had been exposed to LSD they could not become a police officer, and if they are exposed on the job they can no longer be a police officer....
I have always been interested in forensics so i enjoyed Jon showing us all the investigative tools he uses in collecting data such as the fingerprint powders, the lasers and other tools...
JMCFan - I really enjoyed learning about the drugs! I thought it was really neat to see it and know just that little bit is so expensive. I cant imagine people putting that stuff in their bodies. I have never been around drugs so to actually see it in front of me, lets me know that it is real and it out in the Wiregrass probably closer to me than I realize.
To see the scales, pipes, the actual drugs was just amazing.. and really enjoyed how they use that stuff to detect what drug it is.
Gosh, how do you remember all that??? I am gonna have to print all these out to keep 
