Week 6

            The Chief had asked the other Intern and I if we could construct a power point between 30 – 40 slides about boating in Massachusetts. Being the Harbormaster, he will be teaching people how to safely operate a boat in Massachusetts. Laws vary per state, so our laws differ from New Hampshire or Rhode Island in either slight or major ways. The power point that we created had information that was essential in learning how to get your boating license and operate in a safe fashion. We included information on what to bring in case of emergency, how to read markers, and what to do in certain nautical situations. We worked on this for a few days and gathered all of the information required. We produced 38 slides about boating and included animations and pictures. We also made sure to include videos that would keep people paying attention, so they would get something out of it. The information is quite presentable and easy to understand. I know that this power point will be very fluent and easy to comprehend. The other intern and I kept in mind that we didn’t know too much on boating and wrote in the perspective of someone who was looking for information.

            

             Since the officer that we had been working with has been gone, we had finished handing fliers out to people without numbers on their houses. The fliers basically stated that if the homeowner did not comply by May 20^th, then they would be given a warning, and then a $50 fine for each month the number is not put up. We had proceeded in handing out all 200 something fliers, and have not yet checked on them. The next step will be to make sure people are cooperating, so we won’t have to fine them. This particular fine will be coordinating with by-law 2-15. We will be spending the next four days making sure people put their numbers up. Most probably went ahead and did it, but we just need to check them off of the list. There are roughly 200 people that require our attention, and we will be spending at least, the next four days doing this. It will essentially mean that we will be driving all over Essex and checking people off of the list. We had found a good chunk of houses that had put numbers up, which makes it easier for us in the end.

            

              Once I finish with SCORE and graduate high school, I am enlisting in the U.S Navy. I have already discussed with my recruiter of putting in my profession into my contract that will be signed after this summer. I am going into a Military Police role, and wish to pursue this post-military as well. I feel SCORE is preparing me for what to expect with the law enforcement aspect of the service, and is giving me an edge. Post-military I am joining either as a local patrolman, or an Essex County Sherriff. SCORE is giving me the perspective of what a smaller town goes through on a day to day basis, which is what I may be looking for later on. As previously stated, I had accompanied the Essex court officer to the Gloucester public court and had seen some things that changed my perspective on small towns. Some of the things that I have experience and seen, makes me appreciate what local law enforcement does for the community every day. Every day I see Essex Police and Fire personnel responding quickly to a fire or emergency. With my father on the Fire Department, I always had an idea of what goes on, but never got the full picture.

Week 5

The other intern and I had been working closely with one of the officers with making sure that everyone has a number on their house and mailbox. We are doing this in case there is an emergency, either Police, Fire or EMS related, so the responders will find the house quickly and efficiently. We have also been given different tasks to keep us busy. One such task has been to create and maintain a facebook account for the police department. We had made this account a few weeks ago, but have been regularly checking in and adding to it. We have asked people from town to bring in older pictures of the department if they had them, so we could add additional albums. We have been trying to figure out how to get more people to like the page and what else to add to it. This has kept us pretty busy and is a great way to get information out to the public quickly. The officer that we had been working with on the house numbering project is returning today and we will continue on that project. We have handed out all of the flyers telling people that they need numbers, so all that is left is to drive around and see who has complied.

            

              Ever since I started this internship with the Essex Police Department I knew I was going to get a lot out of it. I prefer this internship much more than going to school each day. I prefer it, because I am learning about something that interests me and something I want to do later on with my life, as opposed to sitting through a class at school in which I have no interest in. I think that SCORE is a great program and an awesome opportunity that not enough people get. I am going to get the most out of SCORE that I can and so far I have learned about what I have wanted. Everything from what it takes to become an officer, how the local court system works. I have liked all of the project that I have been given and am looking forward to whatever I am given. The house numbering project has been one of the biggest projects that we have been given, as well as the longest. It has been a lot of work, but in the end it will help both the Police and Fire departments greatly. Even when we are required to stop on the 24^th, I had offered to stay and see this project through. Since I started it, I never like to leave things halfway done.

            

             Since we had been working on most projects on the computers, I have honed my power point and excel skills. I wasn’t too bad with either before hand, but I hadn’t worked with them as many times in such a short span of time as I had now. I have been required to make power points for the Chief that he will be using in classes. I think that power points are an excellent way to teach a class as opposed to plain notes. A power point can be interactive and incorporate the entire class, while notes require a single person repeating things on flashcards or on the projector. Power points can have videos and pictures incorporated in them and are much more intriguing than a boring Microsoft Word document. I have enjoyed working with power point and think that it is a much better choice to get people to pay attention. Everyone knows that when people pay attention they learn the material. No matter what the material is that the class is learning, as long as it is put through a program like power point and has animations and pictures people will be much more inclined to learn in the class.

 

SCORE week 4

            On Monday, the other intern and I accompanied our department’s court officer down to the Gloucester public court. We went in at the beginning of the day, or first call. We got to see a few different things, ranging from minor offences to pre trials, but we didn’t see anything that was of a larger scale. We stuck around and the next thing that I knew, the court was taking a recess before second call. We sat out in the hallway for about 10 minutes until we were called back in. By the time we took our seats, a large portion of the people who we saw during the first call, had already been given a new court date. Only a few remained and were most likely going to be just like the others; pre trials. Essentially what happened was, the defendant would stand before the judge. The judge would say what had been done, and then they would reschedule a different day. Most of the people who were going in were being charged for DUI’s or simple assault. No one was charged for anything greater than that; most people would have expected to see a lot more serious offences.

            During this week, we were wrapping up a previous project that the other intern and I had been handling. We were working closely with one of the Essex police officers with making sure that every single Essex resident has a number on their place of residency. This includes them having numbers on their houses and mailboxes. There were well over 200 people who needed to have numbers up on their houses, so we set out with a stack of papers that told the residents that they have a month to comply or else they will be fined. Our goal is to get 100% of Essex residents in compliance, so in the event of an EMS, Police or Fire emergency, they may be located quickly. It took us a few days, and by the end, we have only a handful of people left to get into contact with. We will be checking up on residents that have already been issued a statement saying that they are in need of putting a house number up. The more people that we check off, the better it will be in the end. We only have until the 24^th to complete this, which will give us plenty of time.

            The other intern and I have been trying to figure what projects are going to be needed to turn in, for the end of our internship is much closer than I‘d care to think. We are going to finish sending out flyers telling people to get house numbers on their buildings. Our job on this project is not only handing out these flyers, compiling lists of what houses are in need of a number, or typing up other documents, but we need to see it through. We have to get everybody that has been given a flyer to comply and go through with getting numbers up. This has been one thing that the department has needed people in town to do. Even though people have been asked to get their numbers up in the past, they would forget and never do it. Now that they are given a physical copy of what we want, they will be more inclined to comply. Besides our house numbering project, we have various tasks that have been given to us that need to be completed. Many are easier and only take an afternoon, but there have been a good amount of them. I feel that what we are doing is benefiting the community more than I would have thought.

SCORE week 3

SCORE blogs week 3

                At the beginning of the third week, I continued on the projects that I had been given. The other intern and I had been given about 3 solid projects that will need our constant attention over the course of our internships. We’ve done a wide variety of tasks in between these projects. On Friday, I will be heading in at 1 o’clock in the evening and leaving later at night. I will be assisting one of the Officers with a specific project that I have been working on since the second week. This project is a lot of work, but will do more for people than they think. The amount of work and time that will be put into this project feels more like an Eagle Scout project. I am glad that I had already done a full eagle project, so this current one doesn’t seem so difficult.  It is expected that this current project will be finished within a week or so. There is a certain point that we are able to work on this by ourselves, we also need the towns people’s cooperation to complete this.

                Midway through the second week, the other intern and I had set up a facebook account for the Essex Police Department. Most other departments have pages on facebook, and the Chief felt that it was time to make one. When he first asked about facebook he was very skeptical, and wasn’t quite sure what to think. Once we presented him with the pros and cons of having a facebook page, it was the clear choice to start one. We constructed a quick outline of what other departments had, and got it up and running. We wanted to at least start something, so that people could use it for what it was designed for; to get vital information as quickly as possible. We tied in the Harbormaster to the Police page, so that any updates about mooring laws and such, will also be quickly put out. The first few posts that we made were about brush burning, and about moorings. We also added a post about helping with one of our projects. Welcomed people to comment and tell us about certain names that landmarks in Essex may have. These aren’t official names, but nicknames that people have given these places over time.

                On Monday, the other intern and I will be accompanying the court officer to the Gloucester public court. I think this will be a very good experience for us, so we can see how the court system functions. Even though we will only be seeing a public court and not a jury trial, I think that this will be an important part of my internship, and am looking forward to it. We have to go down to the police department earlier than usual, because we will need to drive to Gloucester and I am not entirely sure what else to expect.  I also am unaware of how long the whole process will take, but again, I am looking forward to it and expecting it to take most of the day. I believe that this process usually includes the defendant stating that they are either guilty or not guilty, and then being charged accordingly. When most people think of “court”, this includes the judge, jury, and lawyers. The type of trial that comes to mind usually drags on and includes homicides and grand theft auto. This is not the case, and I will most likely be seeing more DUI’s especially since I am going on a Monday. All the people who were out partying on the weekend will be charged.

                

Nicholas: Week 1 (April 8th - 19th)

                                                               Week 1 ( April 8th - 19th)

On the first day of my internship at the Essex Police Department, I arrived at 9 o’clock. I spent some time getting to know the police officers a little better, after all; I will be spending the next 6 weeks working with them. My father is a part of the Essex Fire Department, and they share a building, so I have seen and known some of the older officers for a while, but never really talked to them. I was glad to finally get to know them and learn what I was going to do for the rest of my internship with them. Around 10 o’clock, I took a public tour with some of the police officers and senior citizens, of the Middleton dispatching facility that we will soon be merging with. A dispatching facility is where the calls, both emergency and non-emergency, are processed. The dispatcher assesses the situation and will then send out Fire, Police, or EMS units. We had always had our own dispatching facility in the police department, but now are being regionalized with surrounding towns, and be dispatching from Middleton. This will not bring about any change in emergency response time, and will financially benefit the community in the long run.

Over the span of the 1^st week, I had been given the job to type up and process various documents for the Essex Police Department. I had been collaborating ideas and working with a second intern which has made this whole process go much faster. Some of the documents may have taken me much longer, but with a second person helping, we have been completing tasks quickly and efficiently. One such task was to type up about 6 sections of a document and find as much information on said sections as possible. This wasn't boring as many would have been expected, but in fact, I learned a lot on certain parts of the Massachusetts law, and was surprised when I had finished so quickly. I knew that this was only a first draft, and was going to send it to the Chief of Police, to look it over. I am looking forward to adding more to these documents and making them as informative as possible. A good portion of my internship has been working on a computer and typing up paper work. I am grateful for this opportunity, and am glad that I get the full picture on what it means to be working for the Essex Police Department, because I know that it isn’t all about car chases and apprehending would be thieves. Especially if it is something that I wish to do later on with my life, it is important to get the entire idea of what goes on.

On Tuesday of my second week, (April 16^th, I worked over vacation) I lent my help to the assistant Essex Harbor Masters with installing the town docks into the Essex river. I am glad that it was a fairly nice day, and could spend it outside. Although I didn't expect it taking as long as it did, I didn’t mind it one bit. Once the docks had been put in the water with a forklift, we tied rope to the cleats and guided them into place. Once they were in the correct spots, we secured them and repeated until all 4 parts were in their correct locations. I always use the town docks, and never really knew how much work it was to install them, and they have to do this every year! I now can appreciate the work that it takes to get these docks put together and ready to use. Today on Friday, April 19, I will be working from 4-Midnight, which I volunteered for. I did this, because I wanted to get a feel of the hours that the Essex Police work. Not only this, but I wanted to see how much different it will be working the night shift. 

SCORE outline

Nick Lafata           

S.C.O.R.E outline

Thesis statement: Even though departments in a city will utilize a vastly different arsenal of gear than a smaller town, the quality of training of training should not be a huge variable between a large and small department.

Section 1:

Population

·         A smaller town such as Essex may have a population ranging in the low 3000’s, while a city will have a population, reaching more towards over half a million people.

·         The population contributes greatly to the need of law enforcement personnel, and larger cities will need a higher percentage of officers per civilian ratio.

Per Capita

·         The amount of money that the average family takes in is crucial in the decision of what type of police force is needed.

·         Larger areas, such as Boston, with a lower income per household will need a larger police force, as there will likely be much more crime. There were 62 homicides reported in 2008, alone.

·         Smaller towns with a higher income such as Manchester, won’t see much crime at all and not require the law enforcement departments to need many other departments. ( Bomb squad, SWAT team, K-9 units)

Criminal Activity

·         Larger cities will have a higher yearly homicide rate, and more situations including hostages or improvised explosive devices. Due to this, cities will need to have specialized departments such as, SWAT and Bomb squads on hand and ready to go.

·         Small towns will hopefully never have a need for such departments, and therefore don’t spend the money on training. However, town’s standard officers will need to have the training to handle any situation, even though it isn’t something that is regularly occurring.

Section 2:

Quality of training

·         The quality of training should not differ from large to small population settings. Even though a larger city will need more personnel and more departments, the training should remain equal.

·         A smaller town shouldn’t need the departments that a large city requires, but if the need arises, the standard officer should have the knowledge and training in order to diffuse the situation, or handle it accordingly.

Local Laws

·         Local laws play a slight role in what is needed in a police officer. If an area is dry, or does not permit the sale of liquor, than the officers will need to know how to deal with situation such as illegal distilling or bootlegging.

·         However, areas that are more loose around liquor laws, like Las Vegas, NV, on the strip, where an individual is permitted to have an open container.

·         Local laws don’t revolve completely around alcohol or drugs, however, slight things may be illegal in one part of the country and not the other.

Budget

·         The budget of a department does not depend entirely on the population, although this does play a large role. The taxes in an area are a huge factor in how much money the department can spend on equipment and training.

·         Larger cities will need more money in their budget to fund their high test ballistic gear and high powered rifles.

·         Towns will have no need for a huge budget. Even though they need money, they won’t need an excess amount for bomb disposal gear, or the previously mentioned gear and weaponry.

Bibliography:

·         "General Laws." :http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/. The General Court, 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2013

·         "Boston." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

·         "Town of Middleton - Police Department." Town of Middleton - Police Department. Town of Middleton, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

·         "Massachusetts Laws: Including Massachusetts General Laws and Find a Massachusetts Attorney." Massachusetts Laws: Including Massachusetts General Laws and Find a Massachusetts Attorney. LawyerViews.com, 2006. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

·         "Cityofboston.gov - Official Web Site of the City of Boston - Thomas M. Menino, Mayor." Boston Police Department. City of Boston, 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.

·         Silva, Pete, Chief. Personal interview. 2013

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