THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509300091
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
Officer Amber H. Whittaker, the Portsmouth Police Department's new public information officer, has worn many hats when it comes to serving the community.
A one-time volunteer, then career paramedic and firefighter, then volunteer-turned-professional police officer, Whittaker is settling into her role as PIO with enthusiasm.
``When I was involved with the Portsmouth Crimebusters, I used to listen to all of the other PIO's talk about their work, and it always seemed so interesting,'' Whittaker said.
Her duties as PIO include providing information to the media, coordinating news conferences, releasing information on serious incidents and writing news releases, duties that seem tame compared to her previous line of work.
Whittaker worked with the Chesapeake Fire EMS for 15 years, as both a firefighter and paramedic, when she decided that she wanted to pursue a different aspect of community service.
``I was a citizen who wanted to make a difference,'' Whittaker said. ``I felt like I had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish with what I'd been doing, and I was ready to move on.''
She volunteered as an auxiliary police officer for Portsmouth for a little over a year, trying to juggle all of her jobs, before joining the force permanently in 1991.
Since then, she has served with the Uniform Patrol Division. She also has worked as an Exposure Control Officer with the Portsmouth Police Academy, instructing new recruits on the hazards of blood-borne pathogens, or biohazards, and the federal regulations regarding them.
``I have a lot of background in that sort of information,'' Whittaker said, ``and I volunteered to help the department teach the standards, a requirement for the department. They gave me the ball, and I ran with it.''
In addition to continuing to work with the police academy as a police instructor, Whittaker still finds time to volunteer with the Chesapeake Fire EMS.
``That is, if they haven't fired me,'' Whittaker said, laughing. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Whittaker
by CNB