The Week 4 Citizens’ Police Academy class focused on Defense and Arrest Tactics (DAAT). After a brief presentation from Lt. Troy Nedegaard on the legalities of making contact with, arresting, or using force on a combative subject, the class moved onto learning and practicing DAAT. Lt. Nedegaard, Sergeant Jason Mahairas and Officer Jeremy Rindfleisch demonstrated each maneuver before allowing participants to practice on each other. Everyone learned the come-along, rear compliance hold, decentralization, knee and elbow strikes. To finish the class, two volunteers were given the opportunity to play the role of Officer dealing with a combative subject in different training scenarios.
For the Week 5 class this past Tuesday, participants learned about Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) and narcotics investigations.
To begin the evening, Sergeant Craig Oleson provided the class with some information regarding Impaired Driving while Drunk or Drugged; discussed national, state, and local OWI incident and arrest statistics; and explained the scientifically validated Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFSTs) including the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN), Walk and Turn, and the One Leg Stand. Following this presentation, class participants were able to test each other while using “drunk goggles” to simulate varying levels of intoxication. It was truly alarming how coordination, balance, and judgment were affected!
After practicing the SFSTs, the class learned about drug investigations from Detective Sergeant Andrew Dittman. Det. Dittman provided several examples of recent drug investigations and discussed how prevalent heroin and meth have become in the Coulee Region. He explained how various drugs affect the users and lead to increased crime, and also provided some statistics regarding recent measures being taken to prevent overdose deaths, including the administration of Narcan which stops the overdose process.
Follow along next week as the class learns about the Investigative Services Bureau and practices investigative techniques such as dusting for fingerprints and making footwear impressions.
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