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Community Programs Citizen Academy | CPA Alumni Association | Neighborhood Watch | Walk Away Program | Smart Card Program | A Child Is Missing | D.A.R.E. | Arizona Youth Partnership The Lake Havasu City Citizen Police Academy has one session per year. The Academy meets Monday nights for twelve weeks in the evening from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Lake Havasu City Police Department located at 2360 McCulloch Boulevard. Included is a "range day" scheduled for a Saturday morning at the Police Department's firearms range. The Citizen Police Academy is a 12-week program designed to give Lake Havasu City residents an inside look at law enforcement in their community. Participants will develop a basic understanding of how the Police Department functions as an organization as well as gaining insight into the daily decisions officers must make and the reasons behind those decisions. Participants have the opportunity to meet and learn about the men and women who are protecting our community as all instructors are veteran officers or supervisors. Additionally, each participant is invited to schedule a patrol ride along outside the class time at a mutually convenient time for staff and participants. Accompanying the patrol officer on service calls creates a true understanding of what an officer's job is like and contributes to an exciting, interactive learning experience. Please print, fill out and return the application to the Lake Havasu City Police Department if you are interested in participating in the Citizen Police Academy.
Classes are presented with demonstrations, interactivity, and Powerpoint presentations. Topics covered by the Academy include:
Academy participants will be greeted by Lake Havasu City Police Chief Dan Doyle and his command staff and receive a comprehensive behind the scenes tour of the Lake Havasu City Police Department, including the dispatch communications center. Upon successful completion of the Citizen Police Academy, each participant will be invited to attend the Citizen Police Academy Culmination Dinner. Alumni will then be invited to join the Alumni Association. Academy enrollment is limited to 30 students. Citizen Police Academy Application forms are available at the Lake Havasu City Police Department at 2360 McCulloch Boulevard. Alternatively, you can download and print out the application form from the city Web Site and turn it in to the Lake Havasu City Police Department (2360 McCulloch Boulevard). The Academy Coordinator will contact you to confirm your selection to participate in the weeks prior to the start of the Academy. Requirements Participation in the Academy includes a commitment to attend all training sessions. In addition, potential candidates must:
Final selection of participants will be made by the Chief of Police. The academy is free of charge. For more information, contact the Lake Havasu City Police Department's Academy Coordinator at (928) 855-1171 or email the Academy Coordinator.
The Lake Havasu City Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association was formed shortly after graduation of the Inaugural Citizen Police Academy in 2007 and is intended as a natural progression of the twelve-week Citizens Police Academy. The Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association is a community-based organization separate and distinct from the Police Department but seeks alternative resources to further community/police related goals. Alumni members are encouraged to continue their learning experience from the academy within the Alumni Association. Mission Statement The mission of the Lake Havasu City Citizen Police Academy Alumni Association is to provide continuing education and increase community involvement, while supporting the Lake Havasu City Police Department in its mission to ensure a safe and secure community. Projects As its first major project, the CPA Alumni Association partnered with the Phoenix FBI CPA Alumni Association to bring an Internet Sexual Predator Presentation to Lake Havasu City. The program was designed and presented by an FBI Special Agent and expert in the field. The goal of the program was to provide parents with the necessary tools to keep their children safe from sexual predators. CPA Alumni Association is currently working on a fundraising campaign that they can "call their own." Funds raised from these efforts will help implement some exciting projects and education opportunities in the future. All Academy graduates are welcome and encouraged to join. For further information contact Beth Titus, President, at (928) 699-0399, or email at batrat4@aol.com. How to start a Neighborhood Watch You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit: a block, apartment, park, business area, public housing complex, office, or marina. A few concerned residents or a community organization can spearhead the effort to organize a Neighborhood Watch Group. Any community resident can join - young or old, single or married, renter or homeowner. Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police department. Watch groups are not vigilantes. They are extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors. Getting Organized When a group decides to form a Neighborhood Watch Group:
What Neighborhood Watch Members Look For
Report these incidents to the police department and share the dilemma with your neighbors. How to Report
Keeping your Neighborhood Watch Group Active It's an unfortunate fact that when a neighborhood crime crisis goes away, so does enthusiasm for Neighborhood Watch. Work to keep your Watch group a vital force for community well-being. Organize regular meetings that focus on current issues such as drug abuse, "hate" or bias-motivated violence, crime in schools, child care before and after school, recreational activities for young people, and victim services. Organize community patrols to walk around streets or apartment complexes and alert police to crime and suspicious activities and identify problems needing attention. People in cars with cellular phones or CB radios can patrol. Work with local building code officials to require dead bolt locks, smoke alarms, and other safety devices in new and existing homes and commercial buildings. Work with parent groups and schools to start a McGruff House or a Block Parent program (to help children in emergency situations). A McGruff House/Block Parent is a reliable source of help for children in emergency or frightening situations. The neighborhood watch coordinator publishes a quarterly newsletter that shares gives prevention tips, local crime news, recognizes residents of all ages who have "made a difference," and highlights community events. Don't forget social events that allow and encourage neighbors to get to know each other; like a block party, a potluck dinner, volleyball or softball game, or a picnic. The Lake Havasu Walk Away Program The program was designed and implemented in 1999 as a way for the police officers to better locate persons who have a memory impairment either from a developmental disability such as dementia or alzheimers, impairment from a stroke or a traumatic impact impairment such as memory loss due to head injury. To register, the primary care-giver contacts the police department and a form is completed, detailing information such as type of impairment, name and physical description and any other pertinent physical or medication related issues. Then a picture is taken and both items are placed into the computer database. A bracelet may be issued to the memory impaired subject when there is history of independence or frequent wandering away from the caregiver. The bracelet is not a permanent item and may be removed for hospital/lab visitation. A person who is entered into the program remains until removed by the caregiver or other information is received. The Lake Havasu Area First Responder Smart Card Program is a new program hosted by the Parent Network and available through the Parent Network and Lake Havasu City Police Department. This program is a multi agency response program providing another level of assistance in responding to locations where there may be a person with a Developmental Disability or Mental Impairment. In some instances when Police, Fire or Ambulance personnel are responding to a location or vehicle collision, a person involved in the incident may not be able to accurately articulate their problem or emotional state and that due to this inability precious time is used. This tool enables first responders to understand that there is additional information available, at hand in the form of a packet kept in the home or in the vehicle that will state diagnosed disability or medical/medication related needs. The Smart Card Program is a copyright program from Tri Cities Partnership and is used with their permission. We expect the program to be implemented in the Lake Havasu area by June of 2008. Lake Havasu City is proud to be added to the list of agencies throughout the United States that is adding another tool in the form of community assistance through telephonic means. A Child is Missing incorporated is contacted by our agency in the case of a missing child, elderly or vulnerable adult and a message is given to them. They then send out an immediate message to residences and business land lines giving a full description of the missing subject and request the listener to assist with looking in their immediate vicinity for this person. A Child is Missing is then notified when the subject is located by the reporting agency. This a great addition to the tools available to law enforcement when it comes to locating our missing loved ones. What Is Dare? The LHCPD Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program is a substance abuse prevention education program designed to equip elementary school children with skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with tobacco, drugs, alcohol and to engage in gangs or criminal activity.
D.A.R.E. was developed in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Unified School District. It uses uniformed officers to teach a formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting. The Lake Havasu City Police Department D.A.R.E. Program annually serves more than 400 fifth graders in five elementary schools and 200 seventh graders in two middle schools. It began here in 1986 with the assistance of the Lake Havasu City School District. It had two part time DARE police officers, five schools and 200 students. Today its staff numbers seven officers and a sergeant. D.A.R.E. to say no! D.A.R.E. Lesson Plans D.A.R.E. lesson plans focus on five major areas:
One precept of the D.A.R.E. program is that elementary school children lack sufficient social skills to resist peer pressure and say NO to drugs. Instructors do not use scare tactics or traditional approaches that focus on the dangers of drug use. Instead, they work with the children to raise their self-esteem, to teach them how to make decisions on their own, and to help them identify positive alternatives to drugs. Key Program Elements D.A.R.E. is a joint effort by the Lake Havasu City Police Department, Lake Havasu Unified School District, and parents, all three working together to help our children make the right choice concerning drug use. One unique feature of D.A.R.E. is the use of police officers as instructors. The officers, who are selected because of their human relations and communications skills, are trained to present a special 17-lesson instruction unit. Tips For Parents
For more information, call the D.A.R.E. office at (928) 855-1171. Arizona Youth Partnership (AzYP) is working with Young Adult Development Authority of Havasu (YADAH) in the Lake Havasu area. AzYP is interested in gathering information from adults in the Lake Havasu area on their perceptions of the use of alcohol and drugs by youth. Your responses to the survey are anonymous. AzYP has hired an outside evaluator to collect the information from the surveys and summarize the results in a report. To take the survey please visit the Arizona Youth Partnership web site. |
