By LANA CLIFTON

At an informal ceremony held on Tuesday, Nov. 17, participants of the Bryant Citizen’s Police Academy were recognized for completing the program. Family members also attended the event.

Mayor Larry Mitchell was on hand to congratulate participants. He thanked them for being a part of the program and declared his support of the CPA.

By LANA CLIFTON

The Bryant Police Department has a service dog trained in explosives detection. She can also be used for evidence recovery and in search and rescue operations. Drika, a Belgian Malinois from Holland, was hand-picked for the department and is handled by Sgt. Jenceson Payte.

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, students of the Citizen’s Police Academy were allowed to witness demonstrations in which Drika recovered “evidence” that had been thrown in a grassy field. In a second demonstration, an officer set out a variety of containers in a certain area. Drika was given the command to search for an odor. She found the container with the odor and signaled she had found it by lying down in front of it. She was rewarded with a little play-time with the item inside the container.

By LANA CLIFTON

Tuesday, Oct. 20, was “CSI” night for participants of the Citizen’s Police Academy held by the Bryant Police Department.

Sgt. Jenceson Payte explained general crime scene investigation procedures to the class.

He said the first officer on the scene was usually a patrol officer. As the Initial Responding Officer (IRO), this officer has the responsibility to begin the initial stages of an investigation and to call a detective for serious or unusual crimes. The IRO of the case must also establish a perimeter and make sure all officers arriving on the scene know what is going on. Establishing and maintaining crime scene integrity starts with the IRO.

By LANA CLIFTON

The Citizen’s Police Academy met for two events in the past week.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, 16 of the class’s students traveled to North Little Rock to a S.W.A.T. training facility to fire weapons. Sgt. Jenceson Payte spoke to the group about safety procedures before leaving Bryant.

After arriving at the range, the CPA participants were split into teams, rotated through four different ranges and were allowed to shoot four different firearms.

By LANA CLIFTON

The Bryant Police Department conducted its third class of the Citizen’s Police Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 6. On that night, participants in the class were taught about traffic stop procedures. The goal of the class was not to make participants experts in traffic stops, but rather to allow them to see a traffic stop from an officer’s perspective.

After some brief instructions, Sgt. Jenceson Payte directed the group to separate into teams of two. When each team’s turn came up, the pair donned protective head, chest and neck gear and armed themselves with a special training gun loaded with plastic bullets.

By LANA CLIFTON

Around 20 citizens from the Bryant area began classes to learn more about the city’s police department on Tuesday night, Sept. 22. The Citizen’s Police Academy (CPA) began at the Bryant Police Department and was conducted by Sergeant Jenceson Payte.

Chief of Police, Tony Coffman, spoke to the group in attendance about the reasons he promotes the CPA program.