Day
two of the 4th Annual PSAP 911 Seminar wasn't as fun as
day one. I didn't get much sleep the night before and was awake from
2am-4am so I was already pretty tired. I decided to have breakfast
at the hotel with those that were staying there from out of town. It
was a really yummy breakfast and I could have eaten three more plates
of the fruit alone. Yum.
The
ISP honor guard was in full numbers on day two as was the Boise and
Nampa Police Pipes and Drums. I always love seeing/hearing it.
Day
two keynote speaker was Ron Price from Price and Associates. You
could tell Ron was good at public speaking and he gave away some
books to those that had the courage to speak up and participate.
That was pretty neat. Does anybody remember the story of the young
CEO in Seattle that increased the minimum wage for his employees to
$70,000? I remember hearing he had ties to Idaho and went to school
at Nampa Christian. Well, that young CEO is Dan Price, who is Ron
Price's fourth son. It was almost like having a celebrity in that
very room with us! Ron talked about leadership and the various types
of leaders.
The
first session of the day was Blue Courage taught by Vic McGraw who is
the new Idaho POST Director. I had not had a chance to meet Vic but
remember him coming on board when I was working at ISP. I had heard
good things about the Blue Courage training but also felt this one
felt flat. I just didn't feel it pertained to dispatchers as much as
officers. I liked Vic's personal connection and stories to what he
was talking about. I just didn't feel it was really a dispatcher
topic. He talked about how police are the Guardians and the
important job we do. He was also a bit short on time and ran through
it pretty quickly.
My
second session of the day was Amber Alert Training taught by Gus
Paidousis. The best part of this training was Gus' accent. He was
from the south and I loved hearing him say “momma and daddy”. It
was the highlight of the day! I knew when I saw the topic of Amber
Alert on the agenda that it would merely be a refresher from the
training I attended in August. While it is always good and important
information it is rather dry. You can't really spice up the topic of
Amber Alert and make it funny. It is a very serious topic. So far
the only two Idaho Amber Alerts issued in 2015 have both come from
Nampa PD. It will be interesting to see Amber Alerts from the 911
side of the things vs from the ISP side of things.
The
final three hour session on day two was the longest and most boring
of the sessions. The State Of Idaho Sends Greetings was again taught
by Bryan Taylor and it continued from the training on day one about
subpoenas. This was where we actually saw some mock trials and went
over the actual part of testifying in court, what to expect, and what
the prosecutor and defense attorney will ask. I liked seeing this
mock trial setting but felt all three sessions really drug on. There
could have been more explanation along the way. Instead we were just
watching a bad case of Law and Order. I really struggled with
boredom eating/gum chewing and finally broke out my big-ass candy bar
during the session.
I'd
made a pact with myself to steer clear of sweets and treats (which
were in abundance) but I needed some sugar to keep my eyes open. I
keep things in check and only had one square of chocolate. I have
the rest of this big-ass candy bar (as well as another one) in the
freezer for a later date when a sugar craving hits.
I
can't say it enough on how lucky I am to have been able to attend
this session. Training is important in order to keep your job skills
in tact. I am not sure if I'll be able to attend next year as I'll
be the newest employee with the least amount of seniority. We will
see what a years time brings.
Oh,
I almost forgot. I won a $100 Visa gift card in the raffle at the
end of day two. I'm usually not that lucky. WhooooHooo!
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