Editor’s Note: This is the fourth installment of a series of columns where Kate reflects on and documents her time in the Citizen’s Police Academy. However, she is not participating in the academy in her capacity as a reporter, but as a citizen of Covington

Week four in the Citizen’s Police Academy was a fun one, albeit a bit different than the previous meetings.

This week, we met at the Covington Police Department’s Firearm Complex next to City Pond Park — a location that officers noted was already the CPD’s before the adjacent recreation complex was created.

We eager citizens watched as officers showed off their equipment and ran a couple of simulations.

First, we watched as a handful of officers simulated entering a hostage situation. They shot live rounds at assailant-shaped targets and called out commands as if it were a real situation, not an exercise. From the tactical gear to a medic and dummy victim, the demonstration showed several aspects of a real breach.

Then, K-9 Officer Keith Waddell brought out Atlas, a dog trained to alert for drugs (in canisters, not on a person) and to take down suspects attempting to evade capture.

With another officer wearing a highly padded suit (that I’m going to call the Bite Suit, since I don’t remember what they called it), Waddell called out instructions to Atlas, telling him when to wait and when to chase.

Atlas will bite onto anyone he’s instructed to and hold on until Waddell pries him off. Though to some, that may sound extreme, that’s Atlas doing his job and what he’s trained for. A dog isn’t going to operate with the discretion that a human might, which is why it’s important for the department to be intentional about when it's the right time to bring in a K-9 unit.

I’ve actually seen bodycam footage of a CPD operation before that involved the deployment of a K-9. Though it was several months ago, and frankly, I don’t remember all of the details, I do remember that the dog was not brought in until several officers had spent time chasing the suspect throughout a neighborhood. They had even attempted to tase the suspect to bring him down, but only one of the two wires made contact, so it was ineffective (picture a really scaled-down version of the thing that jumps off your car—both connections have to be made).

Back to Tuesday’s simulated attack: Officer Waddell demonstrated that Atlas would remain seated and watchful while Waddell approached the (fake) suspect, and that Atlas would only respond to Waddell’s commands. 

The only exception is if the suspect attacks Waddell. To demonstrate this, the officer in the Bite Suit shoved and shouted at Waddell, at which Atlas immediately sprang into action, once more clamping down on the arm of the Bite Suit officer.

Now, see where I called that the “only exception” and remember: Atlas is a dog. He can be trained to the fullest extent, and yet he is going to be handled with extreme intentionality. He is extremely loyal to Waddell, but instincts remain at play. Before bringing Atlas out to us, Officer Waddell asked that we all remain relatively still since Atlas’s senses are so attuned.

I don’t mean that to imply that Atlas would have attacked us if we took off running across the field. Just note that this isn’t Paw Patrol. Atlas’s priorities and discretion aren’t those of a human officer, which can be appreciated for its usefulness but must be respected for its differences as well.

Following the demonstrations, we all got to take a close-up look at the department’s equipment. Now I’m no firearm aficionado, so bear with me here. I can’t tell you what kind of guns I was looking at, but they were the long ones (I know, I know, go ahead and laugh. Sorry that I didn’t realize I needed to be taking notes during the demonstration!)

We also got to lift two of the shields that can block gunfire. One is bigger and stronger, so it blocks more intense assaults (Look, if you want technical lingo, go ask the officers. Again, not a tactical gear expert over here. Use your imagination.)

Before I embarrass myself further by trying to describe their stuff and probably misuse more technical terms, we’ll move on. If you want to know more, they’ll have another round of the Citizen’s Police Academy in the coming months.

To end the evening, we ferried over to the Covington-Newton County 911 Center. We got to witness the dispatchers take calls in real time and see how to go between speaking to the person calling 911 and relaying information to law enforcement.

Honestly, it was cool to watch but not a job I could imagine doing. I think I would empathize too hard with the person calling (says the journalist) and just not be very good at it. So, deep respect for all of you who are able to do that. It’s a heavy job, in my opinion.

All in all, week four was great! We got to see a lot of cool stuff and learned a lot. I definitely recommend that anyone with further questions participate in the Citizen’s Police Academy themselves. It’s been a great experience so far.

Kate Verity is the news editor of The Covington News. She can be reached at kverity@covnews.com.