By Evan Carden SA Editor

Officer Lem DuBose

Several Jackson police officers recently completed special training courses to help them better deal with certain aspects of their work.

Chief Charles Burge said such courses help officers know how to react when facing different situations that arise. "They never know what they will encounter while they’re on the job," he added.

Gypsy and traveler crimes

Sgt. Amos Jackson and Officer Alice Jenkins recently completed an eight-hour course in gypsy and traveler crimes.

Sgt. Amos Jackson and Officer Alice Jenkins

The course was taught at the Southwest Alabama Police Academy in Bay Minette and was taught by Investigator Bruce Walstad, who worked as a detective in the Northeastern U.S. specializing in such crimes.

The original gypsies came from India and used games to entice their victims and take their money. Today, the gypsy lifestyle is not limited to any one group of people, and their tactics are much different.

Sgt. Jackson said many pose as plumbers, carpenters or driveway pavers and mainly prey on the elderly. "These people make a lot of money by deceiving people," he said.

Jackson said gypsies are usually large groups of transients often made up of two or more families, usually a husband and wife and their children along with a brother and his family. "Most of the time there are 8-10 people in the group and they set up in motels," he said. "They try to stay on the good side of the law, but move when law enforcement gets too involved."

Officer Darrell Jackson

One tactic of gypsies, according to Jackson, is to distract the residents of a home while other members of the group go inside and look for money and valuables. "They may pose as someone from the water department or the electric company to gain access to the home and distract the homeowner," he said.

Jackson cautioned citizens to be cautious and report any suspicious people or activities in their neighborhoods to the police immediately. He especially warned elderly citizens to be careful about who they allow into their homes.

Interview and

interrogation

Officer Lem DuBose recently completed a three-day course in interview and interrogation, sponsored by the Police Dept. of Gulfport, Miss. and conducted in Biloxi.

The course was taught by former Kentucky police officer Stan Walters, who travels the country teaching officers tactics in interrogation of crime suspects.

DuBose said during the three days of the course, officers learned how to spot deception by observing the nonverbal and verbal movements of a subject. "You watch their outward appearance, the way they sit and talk to you," he added.

DuBose said he also learned about statement analysis, which teaches officers to look for key words and phrases that may indicate omitted information. "When people give a written statement, they leave out the crime," he said. "This course teaches you to determine what was left out."

Auto theft investigation

Officer Darrell Jackson recently completed a two-day course on auto theft investigation, sponsored by State Farm Insurance Company.

Jackson said during the course, which was attended by law enforcement officers and insurance agents, the students learned how easy it is to bypass an automobile’s electronic system and break into it.

Although vehicles can be identified by the tags bearing the vehicle identification number (VIN), those are often removed and replaced. "We learned how to tell if the rivets have been popped out and replaced with new ones," he said. "Vehicles can still be identified by the numbers stamped into the engine blocks."

Jackson said many vehicles are stolen to be stripped down and sold for parts. "A lot of older vehicles are targeted because the parts are harder to get for them," he said.

"The bad thing is that auto theft costs honest people higher premiums," Jackson added.