Seniors Attend Citizen Police Academy

One in 14 crimes against seniors is reported to the police. The vast majority of those crimes fall into the category of exploitation, according to Lt. Sal Nesci of the Meriden Police Department. In order to help seniors avoid falling prey to the all-too-common scams targeted at older people, the Meriden Police Department holds a Senior Citizen Police Academy. This five-week program teaches seniors how to stay safe. At the same time, it gives participants an understanding of the inner workings of the law enforcement and fire departments.

Last Friday afternoon, 20 seniors made their way from the Senior Center on West Main Street to the police department next door to attend the first of five two-hour weekly sessions of the Senior Citizen Police Academy. This particular session included a presentation on gang culture and a tour of the police department.

Sergeant Darrin McKay, one of the organizers of the program, said that bringing in the public “gives people an appreciation for what we do and what it takes to do our jobs.”

For instance, in the opening session, Capt. Michael Zakrzewski told the group that the MPD has made about 5,000 arrests so far this year. “For every one of these arrests, there’s got to be paperwork,” he pointed out.

In a fascinating hour-long session on gangs led by Lt. Nesci, participants got an overview of hand signals that particular gangs use and gang colors. For example, the color red stands for blood and “green stands for the money they make, the grass they walk on and the marijuana they smoke,” Nesci told the class.

He also displayed examples of gang tattoos and gang graffiti and showed the group how he deciphered them. Though many people associate graffiti with gangs, Nesci said, “I have not identified gang graffiti in Meriden for a long time.”

In fact, “Gang activity in the city of Meriden is very, very low,” Nesci informed the group.

After the gang presentation, the seniors took a tour of the police department and had the opportunity to get fingerprinted and have a mug shot taken.

In the end, seniors come away from the experience with a whole new appreciation of what the police do, according to McKay. The response from past attendees has been very positive, he said. But they aren’t the only ones to benefit from it. “I get just as much out of it, listening to the responses of the participants,” he says.

The senior academy has been held two or three times so far, most recently two years ago. Upcoming sessions include:

• A tour of the Pratt Street Fire Station with a fire safety video presentation.
• A tour of the State Police Forensic Lab on Colony Street.
• Demonstrations by a SWAT team and the MPD Canine Unit, plus an accident reconstruction.
• A presentation by the State Police, including the Fire Investigation and Enforcement Unit and the Canine Unit.