St. Bernard Sheriff’s Office Citizens Police Academy opened to nearly 50 participants; Some 650 people have graduated in past 16 classes since 1999

Sheriff James pohlmann speaks to opening night class of Citizens Police Academy.

Capt. Charles Borchers, coordinator of the Citizens Police Academy.

Dana Wheeler, Wendy Miller and Ivan Borrero were among some 50 St. Bernard Parish residents drawn to participate in the free Sheriff’s Citizens Police Academy which started Aug. 26 because they said they wanted to learn what police work entails in the parish.

“I want to know more about what the Sheriff’s Office does and about crime in the parish’’ said Wheeler, who lives in Chalmette.

Miller, who lives in Meraux, said, “I have been here seven years and I am always reading the newspapers each week to see what is happening. I want to know about law enforcement.’’ She added, “I see good response in my area by the Sheriff’s Office.’’

Borrero, who lives in Arabi, said he was in a neighborhood watch volunteer patrol group when he once lived in New York and now would like to learn what can be done here to help the fight against crime. “The more I know the better off I am.’’

Sheriff James Pohlmann, who spoke to the new class of Citizens Police Academy on opening night of the 10-week course, said participants will get an inside look into law enforcement in St. Bernard and what is being done to fight crime. He said they will come away with more respect for the department.

This is the 17th class being held since the program began in 1999 and more than 650 St. Bernard residents have graduated.

“I have been in this department 32 years and I am proud of it,’’ Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Some may believe that being a small parish, law enforcement in St. Bernard has a “Mayberry feel’’ to it, the sheriff said, a reference to the fictional town of Mayberry, N.C. and its TV Sheriff Andy Taylor in the old “Andy Griffith” show of the 1960s.

But he said St. Bernard has a professional Sheriff’s Office that is highly trained and well equipped and has nearly 20 ranking officers who have graduated the FBI Training Academy in Virginia, including Sheriff Pohlmann.

He said that like elsewhere in America, the drug problem is driving property crime in t. Bernard and participants in the Citizens Police Academy will hear what the Sheriff’s Office is doing to combat it.

He said he believes more money should be spent on the front end of the drug problem through education efforts throughout each year in school, rather than spending more on prisons after young people become addicts and are arrested. The sheriff said he supports the D.A.R.E. program taught by sheriff’s officers to fifth-graders in St. Bernard but would love to see it be part of the regular school curriculum in each grade.

Capt. Charles Borchers, who coordinates the class, assisted by Dep. Sheriff Eric Eilers, said participants will get to talk to and ask questions of officers from the department.

Maj. Chad Clark, commander of the SBSO Special Investigations Division which includes the Narcotics Unit and Street Crimes, said the department enjoys good cooperation from residents in its job of investigating drug problems.

He encouraged people to call the department’s anonymous drug tip line, 271-DOPE, or 271-3673., if they know of possible illegal drug activity in the parish. All messages will be checked into, he said.

St. Bernard, like so many areas, has been experiencing a surge in heroin use but the parish has also seen a reduction in drug overdose deaths, Clark said.

There are numerous features to the Citizens Police Academy program which participants say they enjoy, such as:

– Experiencing a firearms simulator program, which has participants react to computerized scenarios forcing them to make split-second decisions on whether to shoot a criminal suspect.
– Hands-on demonstrations of equipment including the new mobile Command Post purchased with a grant, department weapons and a bomb robot used for checking suspicious items are also part of the program.
– Receiving boating safety tips.
– On-site tours of Parish Prison and the Parish Courthouse.
– Lectures from law enforcement agencies from outside St. Bernard.