I m so excited! It s finally time to visit the West Haven Police Department. This is going to be the best field trip ever!
WOW! The traffic is really backed up here. We re supposed to be at the police department by 11:00. I hope we re not late!
There must be an accident up ahead. I hope everyone is OK. I see a police officer directing traffic. He s making sure that traffic is moving and that everyone is safe.
That looks like Officer Billy. He is helping the people with the accident and writing the report. Officer Billy said no one was hurt because they were wearing their seat belts. Officer Billy reminded us to always wear our seatbelts when we were riding in a car.
Yay! We re finally here! The building is so big. I m sure there are a lot of police officers inside and a lot of really neat things to see.
This is the lobby of the police department. This is where people go when the want to speak to a police officer, or pick up reports.
That s Officer Charlie. He s a West Haven Police Officer. He said he s going to give us a tour of the station.
This is the locker room. The male police officers have one and so do the female officers, just like our bathrooms at school. This is where the police officers put on their uniforms and get ready for work. There sure are a lot of lockers here! Everyone is going upstairs. We better follow them it looks like they are getting ready to work.
This is the line up room. There are a lot of police officer s here. Sergeant Ron is standing in the front. He is giving line up and talking to all the officers. Officer Charlie says that at line up they take attendance and talk about important things like missing people and the bad people they are looking for. Officer Charlie says when line up is over, they go to their police cars.
This is the inside of the police car. The police officers use these cars to drive around and help people. There s a neat computer in the front. Officer Lofton is using his computer to write a report, and he can also check to see if someone is lost of missing. He says they can also see the pictures of bad people on the computer screen.
There is a control box in the middle of the seats where there are some switches. Officer Charlie says these switches turn on their flashing lights and siren. They also have a microphone so they can talk to other police officers and dispatchers.
The back seat of the police car doesn t look very comfortable. This is where all the bad people sit when they are brought to jail. I never want to be in the back seat of a police car. It doesn t look fun.
The police officers also use motorcycles. The motorcycles have flashing lights and a loud siren. A motorcycle lets the police officer easily drive through heavy traffic in an emergency.
Here is Detective Paul and his partner K9 Jo. I remember them when they came to our school for a demonstration. Detective Paul showed us that K9 Jo can find missing people, chase after bad people and find illegal drugs. Detective Sires says that he gives K9 Jo a ball to reward him for being a good dog. K9 Jo is cute and looks really happy. Detective Sires says he and Jo have to go now. See you later Officer Paul and K9 Jo!
Now we re in the dispatch room. There are 5 sets of computers here with a lot of cool screens. This room is where all the dispatchers answer the phones when people call for help. There are two fire department terminals and two police department terminals. Some computer screens show the dispatchers where the police cars are. The other screens show the different video cameras inside the station. The dispatchers are really busy here so we should keep going on our tour. All this walking is making me hungry!
Officer Charlie says this truck is called a command post. WOW! Look at all the cool computers! He says they use this truck at all kinds of special events and can they use it as a dispatch center in an emergency. The inside of the truck is really big. I ll bet they do a lot of important stuff here. All this walking is sure making me hungry
WOW! I never knew the police had a boat. This is really cool! Officer Charlie says that boat is brand new and that the police officers use the boat to respond to water emergencies and make sure people in the water are safe. Officer Charlie says the boat goes fast so that they get to people that need help quickly. All this walking is sure making me hungry
This is the lunch room at the station. It has tables and chairs like our cafeteria at school. It also has a refrigerator and some machines to buy food. The officers can eat their meals here when they take their break and relax for a few minutes before they go back on the road. Let s join them! I m hungry!
That was a good lunch! Officer Charlie has brought us to the Detective area. All the Detectives are working on solving important cases. They compare fingerprints and look at evidence that bad people leave behind, so they can put them in jail. Officer Charlie just told us that he heard on his police radio that they just arrested a bad guy. Let s follow him to the detention area.
This is called the sally port. It looks like a big garage. The police officer transports the bad person in the police car. When the police officer drives back to the police station, they ll drive into this sally port. Then the giant door closes so the bad person can t run away.
After the sally port door is closed, the police officers will take a picture and the fingerprints of the bad guy. The machine they are using is a fingerprint computer. When they take someone s fingerprints, they are compared to all the other fingerprints they have from other bad people. They also take their picture so they know what the bad person looks like.
After the Officer finishes taking their picture and fingerprints, they are put into a jail cell. It sure doesn t look like fun. There s no pillow, no blanket, no phone, and no TV. Officer Charlie says sometimes bad people stay here for several days before they go to court. I don t like the jail cell. I won t be back here, that s for sure. Lets go somewhere else Officer Charlie! This place is scary.
That s Officer Angelo and Officer Marty. I recognize them from television. They work in the Crime Prevention Office. One of their responsibilities is to talk to the television and newspaper reporters about recent arrests. They also talk to residents at block watch meetings and speak to business owners about safety. I see that they are talking to Joe Rodriguez who owns the McDonalds Restaurant about business safety.
Officer Charlie says that just like us, police officer s go to school too. After their police academy training, they come to this classroom to learn about all the new laws and policies. The police officers sit at tables similar to our desks at school.
Officer Charlie says the firing range is also part of their training. This is where they practice shooting at targets and clean their guns to make sure they use them properly.
The exercise room looks neat. Just like we have gym class at school, police officers use these exercise machines to keep them in shape, strong, and healthy. Here we see a police officer running on the treadmill.
That looks like Officer Chris and Officer Mike! They are the DARE Officers and they taught us not to use drugs or alcohol when they came to our school. We promised them that we wouldn t drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use drugs. They told us about how bad smoking and drinking is for our bodies. I want to be healthy and strong so I can be a police officer when I m older.
Officer Charlie says it s almost time to go but he said the Chief wants to meet us before we leave. The Chief s Office is really cool. The Chief of Police is Ronald Quagliani (he s sitting in the middle). The Chief is having a meeting with Captain John Serra and Sergeant Eric Pimer about important police business. The Chief of Police runs the police department. He s in charge of all the police officer s and detectives that work here. The Chief has a lot of responsibilities. He told us that he wants us to stay in school, listen to our parents and teachers and always do our best.
I can t believe it s time to get back on the bus already and go back to school. What a great trip! I never knew how cool the police station was and how many different things they did here. Thank you Officer Charlie for a great tour! We ll see you later!
The West Haven Police Department was formed in 1897 when the first uniformed policeman, Robert W. French, was appointed. The West Haven Police Department has gone through many different changes since then, including our patches. This patch was used pre-1960 This patch was used from 1960 until 1973 This patch was used from 1973 until 1991 This patch was used from 1991 1993 The patch that we use today (1993 present)