CSE reporter gets a crash course in law enforcement from local officers

By Nate Delesline III

Published: April 25, 2008

Tuesday, I stepped over the line—well, two lines actually—one black, the other brown.

Or perhaps the black is really navy blue, but whatever color the occasion, I feel privileged to be a part of the area’s current Criminal Justice Academy.

For those who may have missed the original announcement, the Culpeper Police Department, the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office and the Commonwealth’s Attorneys Office have joined forces to educate citizens on how they do their jobs. The 12-week course, with combined efforts from all three agencies, is a first for the area, and I’ve been afforded the opportunity to document it first hand.

A review of the syllabus shows the schedule is stuffed — an enormous educational experience ahead of me. Over the next three months, I will learn about patrol techniques, traffic stops, investigations, firearms and the SWAT team, just to name a few things.

I find it ironic that I write so often on the happenings of the criminal justice system in Culpeper as I’ll be the first to admit that I can stand to learn so much more. But I’ve also heard that seeking knowledge is a sign of maturity, so perhaps I’m not as young and dumb as I like to think.

Just more than a year into my writing career, I also couldn’t have anticipated how thankless reporting can be. I’m sure our pistol-packing protectors would agree—somewhere along the way, it seems that appreciation for those who serve others in our communities has largely disappeared, replaced by an appreciation for the ridiculous and the raunchy.

At the same time, those positions seem to harbor a certain amount of power and glory. It’s an odd paradox and it’s too bad that good work is often obscured by a fog of ignorance, those daily triumphs and even the bigger victories hidden.

One fact is not hidden however—our local law enforcement agencies need larger, more complete facilities, a fact borne out by a Tuesday night tour of the jail, police station and sheriff’s office after meeting the area’s law enforcement leadership.

Not that long ago, I couldn’t have imagined myself in this position—a position where I am in effect, creating history. I find it occasionally amusing and always awesome that 30 or 100 years from now, people will turn to what I wrote as a definitive snapshot of that moment.

So I invite you to return next week, when I’ll chronicle among other things, the class visit to the E-911 Center.

Nate Delesline III can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or .