ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 17, 1996 TAG: 9612170031
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Reporter's Notebook
SOURCE: LISA GARCIA
Rick Van Gordon does not characterize himself as naive, but when a car whizzed past him as he rode in a deputy's patrol car and the red radar display showed 83 mph, he said he was shocked.
He knew folks tend to speed. But everyone he knows tends to skip that right foot from the gas to the brake when the blue lights of an officer reflect in the rear view mirror. That was not the case the night Van Gordon rode along with a Montgomery County sheriff's deputy as part of the department's first Citizen Police Academy.
The driver only drove faster, and even lost the deputy on the rural roads.
Van Gordon said the ride opened his eyes to what officers face when they are protecting the citizens of the county. It also gave him an opportunity to talk directly with a deputy to see why he did the job.
As a member of the same academy, I, too, found it one of the best learning experiences a citizen can get on the Sheriff's Office and the duties, capabilities and limitations of its staff and resources.
Sheriff Doug Marrs organized the first Citizen Police Academy in the New River Valley, which was held at the Christiansburg Police Department last year. When he was elected sheriff and took office in January, Marrs brought the academy concept with him.
Last week, 16 people graduated from the academy, including one student from each of Montgomery County's four high schools.
Almost without exception, the students said the jail tour was the most depressing aspect of the academy. I found that the jail's chief officer, Capt. George Keyes, offered the most startling comments. Keyes has worked in the jail for 25 years. He said he is locking up men today who are the grandsons and sons of former inmates.
The hereditary chain gang linking one generation of inmates to the next may seem unbreakable, but it is not. The key is figuring out how to break the links that bind the next generation to the mistakes of those they have for role models.
The academy was an effort by the sheriff and his employees to reach out to the public in a way that peeled away the layers that separate the police from the public. It tore down barriers and, as one 17-year-old student put it, it convinced him the police were not there to harass people, but have good reasons for the work they do.
The department should be proud of the 16 positive links it forged with the community. They will multiply as the class members carry their message to friends and families.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB