Dignitaries present to congratulate the students were Clermont Mayor Tim Murry, City Manager Brian Bulthuis, City Council Member Michael Gonzalez and City Council Member Chandra Myers. City Manager Bulthuis complimented the police department, which is an accredited agency by the Commission for Law Enforcement Accreditation, with a reminder to the citizens that the police department’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in the City of Clermont by working with the community to enforce the law, prevent crime, and reduce fear. “These are human beings just like you and I, referring to the police officers, and their hearts are in what they do,” says Bulthuis.
The class included exposure, education and hands-on techniques such as the department’s drone program. The program was launched in June of this year under the direction of Captain Shane Strickland. Two drones are operated by four police officers who are trained and licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration. The program, which is conducted with the utmost consideration of privacy right, is focused on searching for a lost child or endangered adult, assessing damage after a storm or locating a suspect on the run.1
The class also included demonstrations presented by the Mid-Florida SWAT Team, a team composed of officers throughout the area. K-9 demonstrations of the CPD’s apprehension, drug detection, and bomb detection dogs. Police chaplain and victim advocate programs were explained, including the benefits of both programs for not only civilians but the officers and civilian employees as well. Students learned of the agency’s new digital mapping system, nicknamed Faro, and its primary use of mapping crime and serious traffic crash scenes.
Attendees were also allowed to participate in “ride-along” shifts with patrol officers. The program gives citizens a firsthand view of what patrol officers encounter and endure on a daily basis, including split-second decisions that have to be made often. To simulate such incidents, the students participated in “shoot- don’t shoot” scenarios provided by life-size videos that recreate situations in which police officers have to make a lifesaving, snap decision in the use of deadly force or other options provided in the agency’s use of force matrix.
The free class will be offered on an annual basis to City of Clermont residents. Captain Malcolm Draper states that the class concluded with 21 graduates. “We learned a lot from the first class and will strive to make improvements and subtle changes to enhance the program as we move forward,” says Draper.
Visit www.ClermontFL.gov/262/Police-Department for a full listing of community events, safety programs, and much more.
