Graduation

Well we made it through. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Citizen’s Academy wrapped up after twelve weeks. The final session was devoted to graduation, small talk, thanks and thumbs up.

Sheriff Boyer was out of town, in Jefferson City as a matter of fact, chairing some sort of governor-appointed commission. In nineteen years, this was only the second time the Sheriff was unable to attend a graduation.

In his place was a man we’ve grown to know and like/admire/respect, the under-sheriff, Lt. Col. Steven Meinberg. Intelligent and capable, he has an easy smile and a big, broad (though not necessarily deep) sense of humor, trying and most of the time succeeding in making us chuckle every few minutes. The primary target of his joking this night was his insistence that the full session he gave on the department’s budget and funding, was by far the most interesting of them all. Yeah, right, numbers and math, charts and graphs, compared to the canine unit, war stories from narc, a tour of the jail and 911 center, trying out the driving and firing range simulators, ride-alongs, SERT (SWAT) team demos, traffic and DWI systems demos, etc. Yeah hard for any of that to compare to two hours of accounting and funding source breakdowns.

It was indeed interesting, at least to me, a taxpayer, to know where all the money comes from and how it is apportioned. It could have been dull, easily, if given by a typical bean-counter. Meinberg is not even close. He’s a fully qualified and experienced law enforcement professional who still spends time in a cruiser on the county’s roads. Just this past weekend he ended up in pursuit of an obviously impaired driver in a white van. The driver nearly caused at least four accidents, but would not pull over. Meinberg, with an instinct borne from many years of service, correctly assumed the driver was making a break for his home. Once there, if the scenario followed a familiar script, the driver would pull into his garage or try to get into his house before the cop could catch up to him. Meinberg had already mentally played out the scenario and reluctantly planned on nosing his cruiser into the garage, right on the tail of the offender, to keep the garage door from closing. Either that or if there was no garage in the plan, to pull in as quickly as possible behind the van and block the path to the front door.

He lucked out, the driver indeed pulled into his driveway, but did not make a mad dash to the door, he just sat there as Meinberg pulled in and walked up to him. The man surrendered then and there, all the fight and flee gone from him.

This adventure from the second highest ranking member of the sixth largest police force in the state of Missouri. No typical politician nor bureaucrat, this guy.

When time came to receive our certificates, Meinberg summoned the photographer to take grip-and-grin photos of us individually receiving our sheepskins. There was a little trouble at first for the photog, lighting, glare, something technical, so he took a few practice shots, adjusted the flash a few times, until he was finally happy with the result. One attending deputy quipped that the problem was that the photographer, a member of the department’s forensics investigation team, was simply unaccustomed to taking pictures of living people.

I gripped and grinned when called upon, near the head of the class, at least alphabetically. The colonel handed me my certificate along with a small but heavy and well crafted deputy’s badge, the very pin that the department wears on their hats. Each of us got one, an unexpected but not insignificant trophy. I will mount it prominently somewhere, or maybe, as Angel suggested, get a tiny leather billfold for it that I can whip out of my pocket and flash at people authoritatively, like cops do on TV.

Once we were all certificated, we snuggled together closely for a group photo. One lady in the group, Christy, volunteered to hold the graduation sheet-cake. No one else wanted to since the cake needed to be held at a drastic angle to show up correctly in the photo. Christy showed no fear though and held it well.

The cake had been provided by a group of volunteers, The Sheriff’s Alumni Volunteer Echelon (SAVE).

SAVE is a group of more than forty former graduates of the Citizen’s Academy. They volunteer their time and resources to assist the Sheriff’s department where they can. Jerry, the group’s president spends Tuesdays assisting with sex offender registration. All registered offenders are required to show up, in person at the department monthly or bi-monthly. Jerry mans the desk on those days, checking ID’s and logging the ten to fifteen  that show up during that day. It’s a mostly clerical, non-confrontational task, Jerry’s service frees up Sheriff’s resources to attend to more demanding tasks.

One lady in the group loans her seamstress skills and sewing machine to the department stitching up jail uniforms, extending their usefulness. Other members head up sessions between convicted DUI offenders and victims/families of DUI caused casualties. Judges frequently mandate these shock-sessions for offenders. Once again, it’s a service well fit for a volunteer organization, freeing up the sheriff’s staff.

SAVE members also assist during emergency drills and training exercises, primarily as victims, but also for clerical work as well also turning up at sobriety checkpoints. They also man child fingerprint booths at fairs and community events and even call recent victims of crimes to gather any follow-up information the victim may have since the crime was first reported.

All of these were great to hear about, but what really stuck with me when I first heard about it a few weeks back, was what SAVE did for the dogs.

The canine units are adequately funded to perform their jobs, but only to a certain point. There just was never any money available to provide ballistic vests for the dogs. SAVE heard about this, stepped up, raised some money and turned it over to the department. Before long, every dog had its own official, department-badged ballistic vest. The vest covers the dog’s chest and belly, significantly reducing the exposed areas vulnerable to gunshot. (See them here)

After the photos were all taken, a couple of dozen SAVE members came in and started passing out cake and membership applications. I took one. I don’t know exactly what I will be able to do with the limited free time I have available, but I knew I wanted to be part of it. They asked for a prorated membership fee of five dollars. The groups’ normal annual fee is twelve dollars, but since their year starts in May, they reduced it for us for the part-year remaining. I made out a check, for twenty five dollars.

When I handed it over they pointed out my mistake. I told them it was not a mistake, it was a donation. I mentioned the dog vests and how that act of decency and humanity had impressed me. They somewhat reluctantly took the money, thanked me and I felt pretty good about it.

I’m nothing if not a bit self-serving. Being a member of SAVE also entitles me to a couple of ride-alongs per year. More adventures, more stories. If the community gets some of my spare time and labor in return, all the better.

Self serving as this is, I would not bother, I would not participate if I did not think that the need was there. I sat in all those sessions as at least a moderate skeptic, listening, watching, waiting for cracks in the veneer to show up. I looked for fraud, waste and abuse. Sure everything was presented in a positive light and we were only shown what the department wanted to show us. But I looked deeper, I looked into the words, hearts and minds of the dozens of deputies that we came across. I won’t say that the department is perfect, there’s a few rough edges, but the deputies themselves were to a person, proud dutiful and professional. Every one of them we met, from the Sheriff, his staff, the commanders to the road warriors to the corrections officers, seemed to love their job. No one in the department is getting rich, I probably get paid twice or more what the average deputy does, and I’m not even in the habit of actively seeking out trouble and jumping boldly into the middle of it. Like teachers and soldiers, this is as much a calling as a career. You have to be willing to work long hours, weekends and holidays, in dangerous or merely miserable conditions, and not be too picky about how much you actually get paid for it.

From what I can tell, the department is on the up and up, stretching and spending it’s limited taxpayer-provided dollars as best as can be expected, focusing on the community’s needs as best they can.

I highly recommend the Citizen's Academy to all who can possibly attend. You will learn a lot of stuff about local law enforcement, you will be impressed with one thing or many things , I guaranty it. Sure it's a time commitment, but it's also an education. It's a chance to meet and get to know several of the county's finest. They are a terrific bunch of folks, friendly, respectful and professional. Hat's off to all of them.

To the Sheriff and his staff, and especially Col. Meinberg and my personal ride –along chauffeur Deputy Virgil Sieberg, I wish to extend a sincere and deep thanks for a truly great experience. I very  much look forward to working with you in the future, gathering and chronicling a few stories along the way.