Citizen Police Academy
Posted on September 30, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do.
Brian and I are now halfway through Citizen Police Academy (CPA) so I figured I can tell you a little bit about the experience. The CPA is a thirteen week program designed to provide a working knowledge and background of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and Wichita Police Department (WPD). The main goal of the program is to foster a closer relationship between local law enforcement agencies and the community. CPA provides an avenue for community involvement and provides first hand experience of policing.
We’ve been in it a few weeks now and, for a program that costs absolutely nothing, it’s a super awesome experience. Brian and I are learning so much about local law enforcement. All of the speakers and presenters from both the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and WPD have been very informative and accommodating. We have an inquisitive class and we always have lots of questions, which they answer patiently.
The topics we will cover during the 13 weeks of CPA include:
- WPD and Sedgwick County Sheriff patrol operations
- Overview of Investigations
- Homicide and Robbery Investigations
- Gang Unit
- Tour of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Firearms Training Facility
- Polygraph Operations
- Exploited and Missing Child Unit (EMCU)
- Tours of the Sheriff’s Crime Lab and the WPD Crime Lab
- Tours of the Records Bureau and the 911 Emergency Communications Center
- Overview of Community Affairs and Community Policing
- Air Section Helicopter “fly-in” and presentation
- Traffic Radar Demo
- SWAT Team Demo
- Bomb Squad Demo
- Tour of the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility (including an opportunity to sample jail food)
I can tell you that I’m not looking forward to that last item on the list, which we are actually doing next week. I hope they don’t force me to eat the jail food. I got to try it last year when my Leadership Wichita class spent the morning part of our session at the detention facility. Lunch was really memorable that day because we got to have lunch with some of the trustees and the food was terrible. Immediately after that experience I made a comment to Brian that fewer crimes would be committed if people only knew how horrible jail food is. I can’t wait for Brian to try it.
Our favorite session so far has been our session at the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Firearms Training Facility. I took lots of pictures that night because I didn’t feel like I got to take enough pictures when my Leadership Wichita class went through last year. I made up for it this time.
Obligatory firing range photo. 😉
The facility was established in 1995. Incidentally, that is the same year that my family moved to the Wichita area.
Here are some more pictures from our tour of the facility.
Here’s Brian’s “shoot or no shoot” scenario.
We all thought it was over but then the guy actually pops back up out of nowhere. I really thought Brian got him and he was dead. He wouldn’t stay down, though. At least Brian got him in the head.
This is our friend Bill’s scenario.
Brian gearing up.
Brian and KSN’s Denise getting ready for their simunition exercise scenario.
Here they go!
Debriefing…
A few others in class volunteered. Here’s another scenario along with the debriefing.
Last set.
The debriefing was actually really educational. Even though I didn’t volunteer I learned a lot from watching the participants, how they reacted during the simulation, and the discussion that followed afterward.
Brian got interviewed by KSN at the end of our session. I hope that he told them what a great experience this has been so far and how grateful he is that I talked him into signing up. LOL. Seriously. He didn’t want to do it at first. I really had to sell him on the idea. It was the “shoot or no shoot” exercise that really sealed the deal for him. That night was his most awaited night of CPA training. I’m glad that he got to participate in all of it. I’m also glad that I’m sharing this whole experience with him.
Couples who learn and grow together, stay together!
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It Was the Busiest of Saturdays
Posted on September 28, 2015 by Ching under Community, Things to Do.
I seriously hope you didn’t mope around the house on Saturday because there was so much to do in town. All of the events kind of overlapped so you really had to prioritize. Some of the events we were aware of were Race for the Cure, the Great Plains Renaissance Festival, the Wichita Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cook-off, the grand opening of the Wichita Art Museum’s Art Garden, KMUW’s Old Town concert series kicked off, and the 7th Annual Haus of Brews. That’s just the special events. That doesn’t include all the things to do in town that happen every Saturday. Insane, right?
We couldn’t do everything so we had to pick three activities. One of these that made the cut was the Wichita Wagonmasters Downtown Chili Cook-off. My friend Bill is a Wagonmaster so I had to stop by and see him.
We arrived toward the end of the event because I had to shower and change after my Zumba class, and I had to start on our laundry. We weren’t exactly speedy. There were still plenty of people milling about when we got there. We even ran into my friend Darcy. However, there were several tents that were already out of chili and packing up.
Our next stop was the Wichita Art Museum’s Art Garden grand opening event.
It was a beautiful day to be out and about. We had the perfect weather!
While at the Art Garden grand opening, we had to stop by and say hello to my friend Teresa. Yes, I have cool friends who do cool stuff in the community.
I really wish we could have hung around because there were lots of cool things going on at the Art Garden grand opening event.
Alas, we had to skedaddle to our next stop: OJ Watson Park. I’d never been there so when we were invited to the Kansas DUI Impact Center volunteer appreciation picnic I accepted. I figured that I’d meet some Impact Center folks and also check out the park.
Brian grew up on the South side of town and had frequented the park as a child. He said the park hadn’t really changed. It was pretty much the same as when he was young. It was all new and exciting for me, though. I enjoyed pedal boating and was grateful that we didn’t fall in the dirty, murky water.
The 7th Annual Haus of Brews was our final stop for the evening. I wanted to get there early but we had to stop by the house to take care of Molly. Then Brian ended up falling asleep on the couch so I had to wake him up. LOL.
I’m really grateful to our friends and coworkers who came out to support the event.
I heard that attendance was down compared to last year. However, I know of at least three people are interested in joining Rotary as a result so I think that’s a win.
Misty is looking into joining the Old Town Wichita Rotary Club because the meeting location and time works better for her. I told her I’d go with her to check out the club. We’re going next week.
My friend Jill from Adventurous Babes Society is interested in the Andover Rotary Club so I’ve invited her to our next meeting.
Overall it was a fantastic Saturday. The only thing that could have made it better was if we were able to hit all of the happenings in Wichita!
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Craft Project: Date Jar
Posted on September 25, 2015 by Ching under Projects.
Brian and I had a blast creating this date jar for our friends Christina and Jake. Yes! Believe it or not, he actually helped me!
As you know Brian is the more creative half. He was a huge help in coming up with date ideas to write in the popsicle sticks. However, his biggest contribution was keeping me from including “joyride” in the jar. Apparently, my idea of “joyride” is not the same as the general population. LOL.
Congrats and best wishes to Christina and Jake!
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Fun Times
Posted on September 25, 2015 by Ching under Life.
Brian made a taco bar for us for lunch last Saturday. It was delicious! Naturally, I ate too much. After lunch we ended up playing Skip Bo. She didn’t let us win. Not even once!
Speaking of games, I got to play some games with my colleagues last week after our work dinner. We had a plethora of games to choose from but we ended up playing the old standby, Catchphrase
Then earlier this week we ate at the Hill for the first time since the fiasco with the front bumper happened. We really like their food so we couldn’t stay away for very long. We met our friend Tracy there for dinner on Monday night when she was in town.
Check out Brian’s enormous burger.
Here he is trying to eat it.
One word: WOW.
Tracy had an enormous burger also.
I tried to be good and just had crab cakes. Although, I wasn’t completely good. I had a bunch of the chicharon we ordered while trying to decide what to have for dinner.
Fun times!
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Christina and Jake’s Fabulous Wedding
Posted on September 23, 2015 by Ching under Events.
As promised, here are some pictures from Christina and Jake’s fabulous wedding at Exploration Place over the weekend…
I feel like I have to explain this picture because it’s not something that you see normally. Christina and Jake opted for a dramatic and unconventional entrance where they walk down the aisle together.
It was a beautiful ceremony. I’m glad they didn’t start on time because Brian and I were cutting it kind of close. Melissa was even surprised that she and Todd beat us to the wedding when they’re notorious for being late. In my defense, I thought the wedding was at 6 PM whereas Christina put a reminder on Missy’s phone and had the wedding time listed as 5 PM. LOL. It actually worked!
Anyway Brian and I were both grateful that our friends arrived early and saved us a couple of seats. We were also grateful for the late start because we didn’t want to miss Christina and Jake gazing into each other’s eyes as they spoke their vows.
Here’s a picture of the newlyweds as they made their exit.
Our awesome group of friends.
Huge thanks to these guys for saving us seats!
Meader and Hideki clean up really well. I was really disappointed that Brian refused to wear a suit. He said he’d been wearing suits all week and wanted a break. We were running late so I didn’t have time to persuade him otherwise.
Brian and I couldn’t resist taking a wedding reception selfie.
A photo of the bride and groom at the reception.
Here’s a photo of our friends Holly and Meader.
We took a regular photo and a fun one.
Missy and Todd.
Me and Brian again. My arm looks weird because we were trying to fake a selfie.
Jake and Missy.
Todd and Hideki.
Brian, Carla, Holly, and Meader.
Holly and I wanted a photo of us with our matching Stella & Dot necklaces.
This was one of my favorite parts of the reception — the newlywed game played using shoes! I thought it was really clever and a lot of fun.
Christina and Jake also had a special photo booth at the wedding where you could created flip books like this one…
And this one…
Here’s a video of Jake and Hideki doing a little dance off…
And Jake and Missy shaking it off…
What a great wedding and reception! Congratulations to our friends Christina and Jake. Thank you so much for allowing us to witness your union, sharing your special day, and letting us celebrate with you.
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