Citizen’s Police Academy wraps its first session

By Staff
Tenth in a series
Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Police Department wrapped up the first session of its Citizen’s Police Academy last week with an introduction to the department’s dispatchers and jailer.
Dispatchers Brie Jones and Mandy Gandy described for the class how their department handles emergency calls for HPD, Hartselle Fire Department, EMS and wrecker services, as well as after hours calls for Hartselle Utilities.
Jones and Gandy agreed that dispatch is the heart of emergency responders in Hartselle.
Dispatch handles an average of 22,000 to 25,000 calls per year for HPD, or 2,100 to 2,500 per month.
Dispatchers handle an average of 1,000 to 1,200 calls per year for HFD, or 110 per month. Of that total, 212 per year, or 18 per month, are actual fire emergencies.
EMS is dispatched in Hartselle an average of 700 times per year, or 80 times per month. Dispatchers handle an average of 450 calls per year for wrecker services, or 35 calls per month.
Dispatchers are also responsible for 24-hour monitoring of the city’s jail inmates, animal control, housing authority and street department calls.
Jones and Gandy demonstrated the stress related with dispatching by turning the tables on academy students and letting them play dispatcher in a class demonstration. Students were asked to get the caller’s location, phone number, description of emergency and name in one minute.
Jones and Gandy acted out four scenarios as callers for the exercise.
Officer Brad Freeman concluded the class with an introduction to the Hartselle Jail. Two jailers are responsible for conducting daily and nightly jail inspections, taking a headcount at the beginning of each shift, inmate meals, paperwork, transportation, supervising visitation, dispensing medications, fingerprinting, and cell searches.
When an inmate is booked into the jail, jailers are also responsible for recording each inmate’s property, identification and medical information.
If an inmate refuses to be fingerprinted or photographed when booked, release or bond will be refused.
Hartselle Jail does not house inmates with felony charges but does transport them to Morgan County Jail where the inmate will also post bond.
At Hartselle Jail, male inmates are housed in general population, female inmates are housed in designated female cells, and inmates with special needs are housed in a handicap accessible cell.
Freeman also brought contraband confiscated from Decatur City Jail inmates for the class to view, including a homemade tattoo gun made from a cassette player and jewelry fashioned from plastic garbage bags.
A graduation for academy students was held Nov. 22 at Hartselle City Hall. Due to an early deadline for the Thanksgiving holiday, coverage of the event will appear in next week’s Hartselle Enquirer.