Edgewood Police Charge Residents With Learning About Law Enforcement

Some invitations just can't be turned down.

And that's how it was when Edgewood Officer Fred Livingston and Chief Robert Payne invited me to take part in the department's Citizen Police Academy this spring. Though the invitation was verbal, it had my name written all over it.

Since my early days in journalism, I've taken a particular interest in police news, particularly cold cases. Though I'd covered numerous police departments and district courts through my many years with community newspapers and Patch, I believe that there's always something new to learn—and the academy didn't disappoint.
So I spent my Thursdays in April and May looking forward to the variety of topics and speakers who took me a bit more into the world of law enforcement and how it works.

While I could write a book about all the facts and figures, methods and outcomes I learned about through presentations and handouts, I'll limit myself to sharing what I found interesting from each session—without giving things away for those who might attend future academies.

The first session dealt with the juvenile justice system. The speakers included Allegheny County Common Pleas Court-Juvenile Division Judge Kimberly B. Clark, county probation officer Bill Holt, Officer Livingston and Karen Ambrose from Shuman Center. The three speakers really painted a picture of the juvenile justice system and how it works. I was truly shocked when I learned about the top referrals for juvenile probation in 2011. I would have thought that crimes like drugs, burglary or retail theft would have topped the list—but never nonpayment of fines, which had 1,035 referrals compared to the number two category, simple assault, with 514 referrals.

The second week started with Dave McIntyre, deputy director of the Allegheny County Police Academy, talking about the training involved in becoming a police officer. Chuck Knox, a Wilkinsburg policeman, discussed narcotics investigations and brought paraphernalia for the class to see.

The session ended with a presentation about accident reconstruction given by Edgewood Officer Joe Tomko. The presentation, which showed a fatal accident along Frankstown Road in Penn Hills, really had an impact on me. The accident took place in front of a place where I once did my banking—and I thought back to how many times my school bus took that bend a bit too quickly when I was a student growing up in Penn Hills. To think how that life ended was really tragic. The numbers Tomko presented drove it home—332 reportable accidents a day in Pennsylvania, four fatalities and 241 injuries. 

The third week was shared by Pennsylvania Trooper Robin Mungo, who serves as the spokesperson for the local state police barracks, and District Judge Kim M. Hoots, who oversees the magisterial district court that serves Wilkinsburg and Edgewood. Also speaking was Marvin J. Carter, a constable who works out of the district court with Hoots.

I was amazed that Hoots can handle up to 100 cases a day in her courtroom. And though I had covered her court for about seven months during the last year, I really dealt only with criminal cases (and that stack was often quite high). Though I knew of the different functions she performs, it was a nice refresher to remember that, aside from crime, Hoots hears cases of truancy, code enforcement, traffic and curfew violations; landlord-tenant disputes; and, on a brighter note, performs marriages.

Week four was shared by Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Mariani and WTAE-TV reporter Ashlie Hardway. Though Mariani had fascinating information regarding Miranda rights—that they aren't needed when the statement isn't needed for a conviction—Hardway shared something I have had to tell people many times in my years as a journalist. Some folks are quite irate when they call to complain that their name—or their son's/daughter's/wife's/etc.—appears in a police report in the media. Hardway summed it up nicely: "If you don't want to be on the news, don't break the law."

Week five was the one I'd been waiting for since Chief Payne first asked me to attend the academy. The session began with two men from the Allegheny County Crime Lab Forensics Unit giving an overview of fingerprints, blood splatter, DNA and evidence preservation. It was the perfect lead-in to Payne's presentation that included crime scene slides of some of the county's most remembered homicide cases.

Payne, who before coming to Edgewood had been a detective and then the sergeant in charge of the Allegheny County Police homicide division, explained that the homicide investigator must step into the shoes of the dead.

"Our job is to speak for them," Payne told the academy participants—and also to bring their killers to justice.

The investigators must freeze time for when the death occurred and work backward to see what evidence they can uncover. He noted that the first 48 hours are the most important. Among the cases he profiled involved serial killer Ed Surratt and contract killer Rich Henkel. Payne also showed a number of slides from homicide scenes, some so horrifying that more than one participant noted that it was good the slides were in black-and-white, not color.

Unfortunately, I missed week six because of an out-of-state work training session. The presenters that week were Deputy District Attorney David L. Spurgeon, who discussed the role of the DA's office, and a representative from the FBI.

The last week began with a K-9 demonstration by Officer Brian Armstrong of the Forest Hills Police Department and Officer Dave Zacchia of the Swissvale Police Department. With their respective dogs, Loki and Brando, the officers demonstrated how the dogs search for items and discussed how they are trained for the job.

The session concluded with Edgewood Officer Mike Crow talking about the use of force and weaponry. Each participant had the opportunity to shoot plastic bullets at a paper target with an outline of a human head and torso. Some class members were very dead-on with their aim! But I think everyone was taken aback when Crow passed around his belt with all the weapons and instruments on it. You get a sense of how heavy that belt is—and when you also think about the heavy bulletproof vests officers wear, you realize how burdensome/cumbersome those pieces of equipment are for them.

The academy concluded with a celebratory cake and certificates for those who completed the program. Prior to this academy class, the most recent one was in 2010. I'm not sure about when Edgewood police might offer this opportunity again, but I'd recommend this to any resident who wants a better understanding of how police operate. 

A final perk is for academy "graduates" to have a chance to ride along with Edgewood police on patrol. While I haven't had the time to do this, I hope that any of my "classmates" who have taken that opportunity add their experiences in the comments box below.

Finally, many thanks to Chief Payne and Officer Livingston for offering me this experience.