Second Week- June 16

The White House
see all photos »

Monday, June 17, 2008

This morning I spent the first two hours comparing a database of case files with an Excel spreadsheet of the databases to check to see if there were any discrepancies. Since the Excel spreadsheet is used to calculate statistics at the end of each month it is important that it is up to date with the database before the statistics are calculated. Around 10 o'clock I was presented with the opportunity to attend a briefing meeting at the Joint Operations Command Center (JOCC). This meeting is held three times a week and focuses on allowing each district commander as well as the Chief of Police to be aware of what is happening throughout DC.  This particular meeting focused mainly on the fourth district (4D). Throughout the meeting various experts presented their predictions for crime in 4D based on past crimes and victimizations.

The Supreme Court
see all photos »

I had to leave work early today in order to attend a lecture by anti-violence activist Coleman McCarthy. Mr. McCarthy spoke about how small of an impact violent actions have when they are compared to non-violent actions. He did a great job of opening up the audience's minds to different types of non-violent resolutions. Mr. McCarthy's lecture was an eye-opening experience and motivated me to learn more about non-violent conflict resolution and the people who endorse peaceful resolutions. Wednesday, June 19, 2008

The Capitol
see all photos »

Today I spent the first few hours of the morning helping the secretary create the monthly report. Around 10 am I left headquarters with a group of other interns to go on a tour of the MPD Police Academy. When we arrived at the academy we were given a tour of the building. I was surprised to learn that all recruits spend a majority of their time at the facility. Recruits take educational classes, do physical training, eat and sleep at the facility.

After the tour of the building I was brought to a classroom down stairs next to the firing range to get a safety briefing before the officers allowed the interns to enter the firing range to shoot. In the quick lesson I learned that officers in the Academy are not taught how to "shoot to kill", all recruits are taught to "shoot to end threats". This new method of teaching brought police shootings to around forty shootings a month compared to a few years ago which had hundreds of shootings in a month. When we entered the firing range, each intern was given a chance to shoot a Glock from seven yards away from the target.

When we left the shooting range we were brought back into a classroom to have a quick lesson on how police officers are supposed to enter a building when there is gunfire. I learned that a minimum of four people should go into a building with gun fire in order to be sure to cover each other in every direction. After the lesson I had a chance to participate in a simulation of a school shooting. During the simulation I had a fake gun and had to distinguish hostages from the shooter and be able to take down the hostage once he presented a threat to the safety of the officers and hostages inside.

After the simulation we were able to go outside and see the different types of transportation that police use in DC. I was shown a demonstration of a mountain bike, two differnt kinds of motorcycles, and a segway. Each type of transportation requires a certain number of training hours so that the police can use them correctly without injuring themselves or civilians surrounding them. I learned that these alternate forms of transportation are used in order to reduce the amount of intimidation that civilians feel around officers. When police use bikes, motorcycles, or segways they are more accessible to the common person. Thursday, June 19, 2008 and Friday, June 20, 2008

Both of these days I spent the entire day working on setting up the monthly schedules for the rest of the year.  Although this task was a bit boring, I was able to learn new skills and become more familiar with the tasks used in Microsoft Word.

On Friday night I decided to go to the White House.  In person teh White House is a lot smaller than I thought.  Personally, I thought that some of the buildings surrounding the White House were more impressive.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Today I went to see some of the governement buildings in DC.  I spent the day looking at the Supreme Court, the U.S. Capitol, and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  I was extremely impressed with both the size and design of the Supreme Court as well as the Capitol.  The buildings are very well preserved and guarded by security gaurds constantly.  The Museum of Natural History was packed with many different artifacts.  There were different animals displayed as well as stones and gems from around the world.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Today I went to Arlington National Cemetary to see the changing of the gaurds by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  During my walk through the cemetary I was amazed at how many people were actually buried in the cemetary, it really made me realize how many people risk their life for America.  The changing of the gaurds was also very impressive because the gaurds volunteer to stand outside in all types of weather every day of the week to participate in this prestigous ceremony.