Denver Public Safety Cadet Program 2013 Annual Report
City and County of Denver Public Safety Cadet Program Mayor Michael B. Hancock Office of the Executive Director of Safety Stephanie Y. O Malley, J.D., Executive Director of Safety Laura Wachter, Deputy Director of Safety Don Ronyak, Cadet Program Director Special Assignment and Training Coordinators Kim Fresquez, Executive Assistant, Denver Police Department Sgt. Robert Hitchcock, Denver Sheriff Department Captain Desmond Fulton, Denver Fire Department Cadet Commander Taylor Balding Senior Cadet Leaders Chelsea Novotny Daniel Deeds Cadet Leaders Adrian Rivera Matthew Pitrone Adam Hoffecker Tori Gavito Jesse Franklin Logan Moores Emily Capser Corey Hagan
Table of Contents Page About the Cadet Program....1 Recruitment and Hiring...2 Training and Development..3 Leadership Opportunity...5 Academic Achievement...6 Cadet Placement. 7 Special Thanks to all of our 2013 Cadets, Coordinators, and Assignment Supervisors for a wonderful year. With much appreciation and respect.
About the Cadet Program Under the direction of Stephanie Y. O Malley, J.D., Executive Director of Safety, the Cadet Program operates with an academic, leadership, development and training focus. Our goal is to develop high performing future law enforcement and fire service personnel for Denver. Entry into the program is merit based and highly competitive. Cadet expectations are rigorous and developmental in nature. The organizational culture of the Cadet Program is similar to law enforcement and fire service paramilitary structures. Our program partners with Denver Police, Fire, Sheriff, Denver 911, Community Corrections, Denver Health Paramedics, along with the Community College of Denver, University of CO, and Metro State to provide amazing training and academic opportunities for our Cadet staff of 50 strong. The mission of the Public Safety Cadet Program is to serve the community by developing educated, well-trained and diverse candidates for public safety employment. We value honesty, integrity, teamwork, respect, diversity, and accountability. Our strategy is to Our Mission and Values A Defined Strategy 1. Recruit, hire, and train a diverse Cadet workforce. 2. Allocate Cadet resources towards a training and development focus. 3. Train or expose all Cadets in basic law enforcement, fire service, and related public safety practices and protocol. 4. Develop Cadet leadership opportunities through promotion and committee participation. 5. Obtain academic success through Cadet educational goal achievement. 6. Deliver highly trained well qualified Cadet status applicants to the Denver Police, Fire, and Sheriff Academies to further serve the public.
Recruitment and Hiring A Cadet Academy Class of 20 new hires began July 2013. The recruit class represented the following demographics: 25% female, 75% male, 50% Hispanic, 10% Black, 35% White, and 5% Asian. The class was comprised of 75% Denver Residents or Denver Public School Graduates. Additional Cadet Recruitment activities occurred with the start up of the fall high school season at Denver Public Schools. Cadet Leader Tori Gavito lead the recruitment effort with an assist from a volunteer cadet recruitment committee. Cadet Applicant Prep Sessions and Denver Public Schools Open Houses were facilitated during 2013 to encourage and prepare high school seniors for an opportunity to compete as a Cadet Applicant. The next planned Cadet Academy is for late July 2014. New hire Cadets will be selected from the 2013 recruitment effort. Hiring is limited up to an authorized strength of 50 total including incumbent Cadets. Cadet Program Summer 2013 2
Cadets are assigned to six month work assignment rotations through various units within the Department of Safety. New for 2013 was the partnership with Denver Health Paramedics Division and opportunities for EMT certification. Cadet assignments are reviewed annually to determine training value and opportunity. Improved training and development was a 2013 program focus and a lot of fun, as several Cadets have expressed below Training and Development The experience and training I gained at the Sheriff s Academy was amazing, they always let you do everything the recruit class does. This includes C4 (arrest control tactics), Tear Gas, Taser, OC spray, weapons manipulation, Gangs, basically everything. The instructors at the academy are always willing to help and give you anything you may need to succeed. I would recommend this assignment to all cadets even if you have no desire to become a deputy sheriff. -Cadet Prince My experience at the Gang Unit was great! The first three months consisted of putting log sheets into the database and running the mail and servicing cars. During that time I also helped detectives with translating between them and Spanish speaking suspects, through this I learned how an interrogation was done. I also helped the graffiti detective with updating profile pictures of taggers, I learned a lot about the different types of tags and what different symbols mean. As I began riding I learned and saw how gang officers work. The gang unit was a great assignment! I wish I could ve stayed there longer and learned more about gangs. -Cadet Silva 3
The fire house assignment was a really wonderful opportunity that allowed for me to understand and get a better visual on what the job of being a firefighter entails. While at this assignment I got to experience a lot of training that ranged from very simple tasks all the way up to really challenging tasks. Some of the things that I learned was how to do auto extrication, how to tie knots, how to do search and rescue, how to throw ladders, and many other different tasks. I believe that this assignment really helps to prepare you to see the everyday life of a firefighter. -Cadet Cox My personal experience at the DSD Training Academy was great, I received far more training than I ever could have imagined, especially it being my first assignment as a Cadet. I received training both hands on and in the classroom. I was allowed to participate in just about any class or training exercise that the recruits going through the Academy were going through. In the many hours of training I received, DEVOC, contraband, handcuffing techniques, report writing, and use of force were just a few of the many things I learned. In my opinion, every Cadet in the program should try to spend some time at the DSD Academy before graduating, or moving to an Academy of their own. -Cadet Gomez I rotated into the Denver Police Fugitive Unit for the latter half of 2013 and it was of my most valued experiences thus far. I was allotted the chance to experience a detailed view of the investigative side of law enforcement. Through ride-alongs and working very closely with the unit detectives, I gained a deep insight into how investigations are started to how they are closed. I experienced training in everything from surveillance to attempt pickups on the most dangerous of felons. -Cadet Hoffecker 4
Leadership Opportunity An essential component of the Cadet Program as defined in our strategy is to create leadership development opportunities. Our program goal is 100% Cadet participation in being involved with at least one committee or serving in a Cadet Leadership position as a Leader, Senior Leader, or Commander. In 2013 we had a stable leadership structure comprised of 11 Cadets. Cadets have the opportunity to be part of several internal committees to build communication, networking, teamwork, project facilitation, and other needed skills. Most committees average five Cadet members serving as active participants or committee chairs. Our 2013 committees included the following: Fitness: Training: Tech: Recruitment: Special Events: Academic: Peer Advisor: Focus on enhancing cadet fitness and promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Focus on law enforcement and fire service job related training opportunities. Focus on technology to improve Cadet Program communications and processes. Focus on Denver Public Schools recruitment activity and Cadet applicant preparation services. Focus on teambuilding and internal special event coordination. Focus on educational goal achievement and enhanced study table opportunities. Focus on entry level Cadets to assist and mentor into the Cadet culture. 5
Academic Achievement Over 1,000 academic credit hours and a cumulative Cadet grade point average of over 3.0 for 2013 was posted for the program. Academic majors were wide spread and enhanced our collective diversity. Our classroom study included the following: engineering, criminal justice, sociology, psychology, chemistry, music, language arts, Chicano studies, African American studies, human services, nutrition, sign language, public speaking, EMT, fire science, statistics and more. Our community based partnerships with UCD, Metro State, and CCD have allowed us to continually educate ourselves while receiving practical hands on training within the public safety domain in Denver. Cadets are required to meet academic credit hour and grade standards each semester in the program. The Cadet Academic Committee works closely with all new hires and others to insure a smooth transition into the program and to support individual academic needs. 6
Cadet Placement Eighteen Cadet placements to Denver Academies were made in 2013. Eleven Cadets were selected to the Denver Police Department and seven Cadets were selected to the Denver Fire Department. Over the past two years 23 Cadets have committed to serve Denver as sworn police or fire personnel. Cadets are required to meet all hiring standards and qualifications that all sworn applicants must obtain for hiring consideration. The Cadet Program, under the direction of the Executive Director of Safety, may select as many as available qualified Cadet status applicants into academies. A Cadet may obtain status after two years in the program while successfully meeting all internal performance standards. Through a special designated Cadet eligible hiring list maintained by the Denver Civil Service Commission, Cadets are considered for Denver Police Officer and Firefighter hiring. From left to right former Cadets: Officer Casillas, Officer Carlson, Firefighter Drumgo, Firefighter Mangels, College Graduate Candelaria, and Firefighter Damian. Former Cadets Hired by Denver Police and Fire Departments 2012-2013 Emily Bayless Aaron Carlson Jay Casillas James McClelland Ashley Botello Antony Gutierrez David Abeyta Elasiff Ojeda-Ayala Brian Holm Nick Prisjatschew Nancy Luke Mike Goodfellow Mia Burkhardt Jay Schmidt Garrett Majors Jordan King Jeff Swanson David Flynt Ashaun Drumgo Mark Damian Chris Mangels Joe Gomez Rudy Herrera 7