San Antonio is a tremendously diverse community and being that it is full of so many different cultures you can bet that it has a few trouble makers here and there. Despite that assumption though, it has its good ones too. It’s the good ones that make up our society, and make the city what it is today. The San Antonio Police Department is the agency that keeps our city under control, but it’s not just them alone they do get their help from the citizens of San Antonio. The SAPD offers many different programs that give the people of San Antonio the opportunity to help out the police, Programs such as: the SAFFE program (San Antonio Fear Free Environment), C.O.P. (Cellular On Patrol), and other Volunteers In Policing programs.
The SAFFE program is probably the most prominent of all the other programs offered by the police. Scott Hermes says, “First established in 1994-95 with 60 officers and supervisors, the SAFFE Unit now consists of over 80 officers who focus on identifying, evaluating and resolving community crime problems with the cooperation and participation of community residents.” SAFFE officers are assigned to specific areas or neighborhoods within the city, and work closely with both residents and the district patrol officers also assigned to those areas. SAFFE officers establish and maintain day-to-day interaction with residents and businesses within their assigned areas in order to try to prevent crimes before they happen. SAFFE officers also act as liaisons with other city agencies, work closely with schools and youth programs, coordinate graffiti-removal activities, and serve as resources to residents who wish to take back their neighborhoods from crime and decay. All SAFFE officers are assigned a specific district, which means that there won’t be problems with an officer getting backed up with to much work because the officer will only have one district to attend to. As well as only having to worry about one district they are not tied to the radio and dispatch they have the freedom of staying until the problem is resolved and taken care of, which is a big help for the citizens. They don’t only work with residence they also work with business leaders to help bring down the crime level in commercial areas within the community. They are also responsible for arranging presentations at schools, churches, neighborhood associations meetings, etc. Officer Scott Hermes explains they do stuff like, “personal safety, target hardening tips & tricks, puppets, McGruff, puppets, bike rodeos, workplace violence, drugs, alcohol, stranger danger, gangs, I.D. theft, scams, hate crimes, school violence, auto theft, domestic violence, homeland security, senior citizen programs, etc.” The SAFFE officers also perform what is called a Home and Business Security Survey, a survey that they run to check and see just how safe your home is against certain crimes. After the survey they tell you what you can do to help prevent crime done to your house or business property. As well as giving you pointers on how to make your residence or business safer they will also take up to 10% off your home owners insurance which will surely help a lot of people here in San Antonio. They have direct contact with city council, and other city agencies that will help them to get done what ever it is that they need done and will do in an orderly manner as quickly as possible. The SAFFE program is an excellent program that is sure to do wonders for our community and hopefully help to lower the crime rate in our beloved city.
The SAPD web-site says the COP program was established in 1992 by Southwestern Bell, which made it possible for people to dial free of charge the 911 and 207 – SAPD numbers to attempt to get more people involved with reporting accidents and crimes. On October of 1993
the San Antonio Police Department joined with Southwestern Bell to create a more integrated system. They offered free training at the substations to all of the citizens that were willing to give up a little of their time. “The first Cellular On Patrol class graduated from the East Substation on October 30th, 1993 and it was expanded to all substations shortly thereafter. As of January 2004 there are over 8,200 COP graduates representing more than 410 neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The whole purpose of the program says SAFFE Officer Scott Hermes, “…is to prepare citizens to be the eyes and ears of the department and to promote closer cooperation between residence and the city’s agencies that exist to serve them.” The training program is an 8 hour instruction period and the opportunity to ride along with one of San Antonio’s Finest. The COP class instructs on: recognizing suspicious activity, taking descriptions, How to become an effective observer, crime prevention, working with city agencies – such as Code Compliance, setting up COP patrols, testifying in court, terrorism, and COP rules an agreements. After graduating the new COP members return to their neighborhoods and get together with the other COP members and form patrol groups. They will also help out at their nearest substations, and assist officers with “Operation SAFFE Kids” where they do fingerprinting and other activities like McGruff presentations. As COP members they will also do MAP patrol programs where they patrol “Hot” spots such as city blocks, streets and other residential areas. They are also actively involved in recruiting more COP members in their area and do things like, block walks, call outs, and also organize fund raising events for their neighborhood programs. The ride along experience is by far one of the best experiences the members will go on. It allows them to get a one on one look at just how hard our Police Department works. It also allows them to “…familiarize themselves with SAPD patrol
procedures and to establish points of contact with both the substations and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). Some people get COP and being on the police force mixed up. Members should never get involved in any way with police work such as chasing down criminals or even carrying a gun, leave that to the professionals. So far the COP program has been a very influential part of the drop in crime rates all around the city statistics have shown in some places an immediate drop.
These are not the only programs that you as a citizen can join there are others that are a part of the VIP program or Volunteers In Policing. Their mission is “To enhance and support the delivery of police services to the community through a variety of volunteer services which will contribute to the public safety, for the safety, of the citizens of San Antonio” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The VIP program was created in 1997 in response to requests made from the San Antonio Police Department asking for volunteers to help them in their services to the San Antonio community. There are many different programs within VIP such as: Warrant Drive Enforcer, Surveillance Team, Public Safety Team, Homeland Security Team, Unit Volunteers – which assist in everyday stuff at the 6 different substations, Fingerprint Technician, Special Projects like the National Night Out, Blue Santa, and Police Explorers (Youth Oriented), as well as Role play for the police cadets going through their training at the academy. There is the CPA program as well which is there to allow the people in the community to get a good deal of information about the San Antonio Police Department.
There are so many other community based programs brought to the citizens of San Antonio all you have to do to help is ask. The Police need a lot of help these days because the crime rate is always on the move. With out the communities help the San Antonio Police
Department would probably be over whelmed. So do anything possible to help San Antonio’s Finest.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
San Antonio Police Department and the Community it Serves (Rough Draft)
San Antonio is a tremendously diverse community and being that it is full of so many different cultures you can bet that it has a few trouble makers here and there. Despite that assumption though, it has its good ones too. It’s the good ones that make up our society, and make the city what it is today. The San Antonio Police Department is the agency that keeps our city under control, but it’s not just them alone they do get their help from the citizens of San Antonio. The SAPD offers many different programs that give the people of San Antonio the opportunity to help out the police, Programs such as: the SAFFE program (San Antonio Fear Free Environment), C.O.P. (Cellular On Patrol), and other Volunteers In Policing programs.
The SAFFE program is probably the most prominent of all the other programs offered by the police. Scott Hermes says, “First established in 1994-95 with 60 officers and supervisors, the SAFFE Unit now consists of over 80 officers who focus on identifying, evaluating and resolving community crime problems with the cooperation and participation of community residents.” SAFFE officers are assigned to specific areas or neighborhoods within the city, and work closely with both residents and the district patrol officers also assigned to those areas. SAFFE officers establish and maintain day-to-day interaction with residents and businesses within their assigned areas in order to try to prevent crimes before they happen. SAFFE officers also act as liaisons with other city agencies, work closely with schools and youth programs, coordinate graffiti-removal activities, and serve as resources to residents who wish to take back their neighborhoods from crime and decay. All SAFFE officers are assigned a specific district, which means that there won’t be problems with an officer getting backed up with to much work because the officer will only have one district to attend to. As well as only having to worry about one district they are not tied to the radio and dispatch they have the freedom of staying until the problem is resolved and taken care of, which is a big help for the citizens. They don’t only work with residence they also work with business leaders to help bring down the crime level in commercial areas within the community. They are also responsible for arranging presentations at schools, churches, neighborhood associations meetings, etc. Officer Scott Hermes explains they do stuff like, “personal safety, target hardening tips & tricks, puppets, McGruff, puppets, bike rodeos, workplace violence, drugs, alcohol, stranger danger, gangs, I.D. theft, scams, hate crimes, school violence, auto theft, domestic violence, homeland security, senior citizen programs, etc.” The SAFFE officers also perform what is called a Home and Business Security Survey, a survey that they run to check and see just how safe your home is against certain crimes. After the survey they tell you what you can do to help prevent crime done to your house or business property. As well as giving you pointers on how to make your residence or business safer they will also take up to 10% off your home owners insurance which will surely help a lot of people here in San Antonio. They have direct contact with city council, and other city agencies that will help them to get done what ever it is that they need done and will do in an orderly manner as quickly as possible. The SAFFE program is an excellent program that is sure to do wonders for our community and hopefully help to lower the crime rate in our beloved city.
The SAPD web-site says the COP program was established in 1992 by Southwestern Bell, which made it possible for people to dial free of charge the 911 and 207 – SAPD numbers to attempt to get more people involved with reporting accidents and crimes. On October of 1993
the San Antonio Police Department joined with Southwestern Bell to create a more integrated system. They offered free training at the substations to all of the citizens that were willing to give up a little of their time. “The first Cellular On Patrol class graduated from the East Substation on October 30th, 1993 and it was expanded to all substations shortly thereafter. As of January 2004 there are over 8,200 COP graduates representing more than 410 neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The whole purpose of the program says SAFFE Officer Scott Hermes, “…is to prepare citizens to be the eyes and ears of the department and to promote closer cooperation between residence and the city’s agencies that exist to serve them.” The training program is an 8 hour instruction period and the opportunity to ride along with one of San Antonio’s Finest. The COP class instructs on: recognizing suspicious activity, taking descriptions, How to become an effective observer, crime prevention, working with city agencies – such as Code Compliance, setting up COP patrols, testifying in court, terrorism, and COP rules an agreements. After graduating the new COP members return to their neighborhoods and get together with the other COP members and form patrol groups. They will also help out at their nearest substations, and assist officers with “Operation SAFFE Kids” where they do fingerprinting and other activities like McGruff presentations. As COP members they will also do MAP patrol programs where they patrol “Hot” spots such as city blocks, streets and other residential areas. They are also actively involved in recruiting more COP members in their area and do things like, block walks, call outs, and also organize fund raising events for their neighborhood programs. The ride along experience is by far one of the best experiences the members will go on. It allows them to get a one on one look at just how hard our Police Department works. It also allows them to “…familiarize themselves with SAPD patrol procedures and to establish points of contact with both the substations and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). Some people get COP and being on the police force mixed up. Members should never get involved in any way with police work such as chasing down criminals or even carrying a gun, leave that to the professionals. So far the COP program has been a very influential part of the drop in crime rates all around the city statistics have shown in some places an immediate drop.
These are not the only programs that you as a citizen can join there are others that are a part of the VIP program or Volunteers In Policing. Their mission is “To enhance and support the delivery of police services to the community through a variety of volunteer services which will contribute to the public safety, for the safety, of the citizens of San Antonio” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The VIP program was created in 1997 in response to requests made from the San Antonio Police Department asking for volunteers to help them in their services to the San Antonio community. There are many different programs within VIP such as: Warrant Drive Enforcer, Surveillance Team, Public Safety Team, Homeland Security Team, Unit Volunteers – which assist in everyday stuff at the 6 different substations, Fingerprint Technician, Special Projects like the National Night Out, Blue Santa, and Police Explorers (Youth Oriented), as well as Role play for the police cadets going through their training at the academy. There is the CPA program as well which is there to allow the people in the community to get a good deal of information about the San Antonio Police Department.
There are so many other community based programs brought to the citizens of San Antonio all you have to do to help is ask. The Police need a lot of help these days because the crime rate is always on the move. With out the communities help the San Antonio Police Department would probably be over whelmed. So do anything possible to help San Antonio’s Finest.
The SAFFE program is probably the most prominent of all the other programs offered by the police. Scott Hermes says, “First established in 1994-95 with 60 officers and supervisors, the SAFFE Unit now consists of over 80 officers who focus on identifying, evaluating and resolving community crime problems with the cooperation and participation of community residents.” SAFFE officers are assigned to specific areas or neighborhoods within the city, and work closely with both residents and the district patrol officers also assigned to those areas. SAFFE officers establish and maintain day-to-day interaction with residents and businesses within their assigned areas in order to try to prevent crimes before they happen. SAFFE officers also act as liaisons with other city agencies, work closely with schools and youth programs, coordinate graffiti-removal activities, and serve as resources to residents who wish to take back their neighborhoods from crime and decay. All SAFFE officers are assigned a specific district, which means that there won’t be problems with an officer getting backed up with to much work because the officer will only have one district to attend to. As well as only having to worry about one district they are not tied to the radio and dispatch they have the freedom of staying until the problem is resolved and taken care of, which is a big help for the citizens. They don’t only work with residence they also work with business leaders to help bring down the crime level in commercial areas within the community. They are also responsible for arranging presentations at schools, churches, neighborhood associations meetings, etc. Officer Scott Hermes explains they do stuff like, “personal safety, target hardening tips & tricks, puppets, McGruff, puppets, bike rodeos, workplace violence, drugs, alcohol, stranger danger, gangs, I.D. theft, scams, hate crimes, school violence, auto theft, domestic violence, homeland security, senior citizen programs, etc.” The SAFFE officers also perform what is called a Home and Business Security Survey, a survey that they run to check and see just how safe your home is against certain crimes. After the survey they tell you what you can do to help prevent crime done to your house or business property. As well as giving you pointers on how to make your residence or business safer they will also take up to 10% off your home owners insurance which will surely help a lot of people here in San Antonio. They have direct contact with city council, and other city agencies that will help them to get done what ever it is that they need done and will do in an orderly manner as quickly as possible. The SAFFE program is an excellent program that is sure to do wonders for our community and hopefully help to lower the crime rate in our beloved city.
The SAPD web-site says the COP program was established in 1992 by Southwestern Bell, which made it possible for people to dial free of charge the 911 and 207 – SAPD numbers to attempt to get more people involved with reporting accidents and crimes. On October of 1993
the San Antonio Police Department joined with Southwestern Bell to create a more integrated system. They offered free training at the substations to all of the citizens that were willing to give up a little of their time. “The first Cellular On Patrol class graduated from the East Substation on October 30th, 1993 and it was expanded to all substations shortly thereafter. As of January 2004 there are over 8,200 COP graduates representing more than 410 neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The whole purpose of the program says SAFFE Officer Scott Hermes, “…is to prepare citizens to be the eyes and ears of the department and to promote closer cooperation between residence and the city’s agencies that exist to serve them.” The training program is an 8 hour instruction period and the opportunity to ride along with one of San Antonio’s Finest. The COP class instructs on: recognizing suspicious activity, taking descriptions, How to become an effective observer, crime prevention, working with city agencies – such as Code Compliance, setting up COP patrols, testifying in court, terrorism, and COP rules an agreements. After graduating the new COP members return to their neighborhoods and get together with the other COP members and form patrol groups. They will also help out at their nearest substations, and assist officers with “Operation SAFFE Kids” where they do fingerprinting and other activities like McGruff presentations. As COP members they will also do MAP patrol programs where they patrol “Hot” spots such as city blocks, streets and other residential areas. They are also actively involved in recruiting more COP members in their area and do things like, block walks, call outs, and also organize fund raising events for their neighborhood programs. The ride along experience is by far one of the best experiences the members will go on. It allows them to get a one on one look at just how hard our Police Department works. It also allows them to “…familiarize themselves with SAPD patrol procedures and to establish points of contact with both the substations and the officers who patrol their neighborhoods” (San Antonio Police Department 1). Some people get COP and being on the police force mixed up. Members should never get involved in any way with police work such as chasing down criminals or even carrying a gun, leave that to the professionals. So far the COP program has been a very influential part of the drop in crime rates all around the city statistics have shown in some places an immediate drop.
These are not the only programs that you as a citizen can join there are others that are a part of the VIP program or Volunteers In Policing. Their mission is “To enhance and support the delivery of police services to the community through a variety of volunteer services which will contribute to the public safety, for the safety, of the citizens of San Antonio” (San Antonio Police Department 1). The VIP program was created in 1997 in response to requests made from the San Antonio Police Department asking for volunteers to help them in their services to the San Antonio community. There are many different programs within VIP such as: Warrant Drive Enforcer, Surveillance Team, Public Safety Team, Homeland Security Team, Unit Volunteers – which assist in everyday stuff at the 6 different substations, Fingerprint Technician, Special Projects like the National Night Out, Blue Santa, and Police Explorers (Youth Oriented), as well as Role play for the police cadets going through their training at the academy. There is the CPA program as well which is there to allow the people in the community to get a good deal of information about the San Antonio Police Department.
There are so many other community based programs brought to the citizens of San Antonio all you have to do to help is ask. The Police need a lot of help these days because the crime rate is always on the move. With out the communities help the San Antonio Police Department would probably be over whelmed. So do anything possible to help San Antonio’s Finest.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
LAND OF ART
FRONT GATEThe H.E. Butt Foundation owns 1,900 acres north of Leakey, Texas and has had the place since 1954. They bought the land to be used as a camp for youth and adults all around the nation as a way to get to know God and get in touch with the nature that he so dearly created. Howard Butt, Sr. was the founder of the encampment, as a child he enjoyed the beauty of the land around him as he was a big camper while growing up. The camp its self is an art piece, to get to the camps you must drive through the Frio River about a quarter of a mile, as you drive you can look into the water and see a beautiful symmetry to the world around the freezing cold water of the river. And the colors around you especially being that we are in the Fall season are spectacular with reds, oranges, greens and yellows it’s just such a beautiful sight to see. There is a place in the camp that has what everybody calls the Blue Hole a humongous hole in the middle of the Frio River that is said to drop about 50 to 60 feet straight down, it is a beautiful thing to see especially the brilliant blue glow that the water seems to give off. The color of nature is so prominent around you when you go to visit this wonderful place. The art of God’s beautiful power is also evident not just in nature but as well as the peoples lives that are changed from the time they drive through the front gate to the time they leave the camp till the next year.
DRIVING THROUGH THE FRIO RIVER
ONE OF THE MANY CAMPSITES
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Underground Source of Life
Our aquifer is a very important part of our city and our ecosystem as well as our survival. Elyzabeth Earnly a representative for AGUA came to speak to my humanities class at Palo Alto College. She explained exactly what happens in city council meetings about the building of housing divisions and other complexes on aquifer recharge zones. She talked to us about the many different city ordinances that we have that developers must follow. Although we have city ordinances developers are still able to get away with disobeying them because their land is vested also know as “Grandfathering”; which dismisses them from having to follow the ordinances set forth by City Council and many other agencies like the one that Elyzabeth is a part of. She also gave us the names of other organizations that are there to help the city council in enforcing or city ordinances. Her presentation was an eye opener for me and made me realize how important the aquifer is to our city. She also mentioned how important it is that we stick together as citizens of San Antonio to rid our city of these developers that don’t seem to care about our only fresh water source.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Life in My Neighborhood
I live on the South Side of town on 205 Sunglo DR. about five minuets away is Loop 410 and I-35. My neighborhood is full of working class families and is kind of a quiet place to live. Most of the houses around my block are alright and well maintained but some are rundown, but I have seen worse in other parts of the city of San Antonio. Most of the families in my neighborhood have middle aged parents with young kids or teenagers still living with them and most of the families living around me are of Hispanic origin. My Grandmother lives right across the street from me and my family my mom is her daughter and my Uncle lives with her and takes care of her when he can; he is a busy man most of the day. I live cattycorner from the Carroll Bell Elementary school that I attended as a kid growing up in this neighborhood. Not more than about four or five blocks away there is an HEB and a couple of mini malls and shopping centers, so everything that is a necessity to living is no more than a few blocks away from my house. One bad part of living next to a school and having small streets is the traffic that builds up after the kids are let out, they tried to fix this by making a child pick-up area but its still to small to handle the amount of cars that come through there. Despite that it has cut back a little bit of the traffic that would occur in the neighborhood. Another bad part is about one block away is a pretty big Night Club that every Friday, Saturday, and late Sundays there is a lot of traffic on Pleasanton Road around eleven o’clock when the club opens and two o’clock at night when the club closes. Other than that there’s not much that goes on. I go to Palo Alto College as a Criminal Justice Major and that’s where I do most of my studying even with my busy schedule. I work with my Uncle, who is a Construction Contractor, as his main Drafter, who draws all of his blue prints for the business, which is called A.D. Willems Construction. I also spend a lot of time and physical working at my church, Mayfield Park Baptist Church which I have attended since I was born. I am apart of the Building and Grounds Team which is responsible for cleaning, cutting and maintaining the lawn and small gardens that we have on the premises. I also am apart of the Morning Worship Team I run the sound board as well as run the cameras that we have recording the Pastor’s sermons to give out to the homebound members of our church. My Spiritual wellbeing is a very important part of my life and always will be. I go to church every Sunday as well as the Wednesday night service that we put together for the community; we have a fall festival coming up in a few weeks that is free and open to the whole community. 
MAP TO WORK
MAP TO CHURCH
MAP TO SCHOOL
MAP TO WORK MAP TO CHURCH MAP TO SCHOOLMonday, September 17, 2007
Water of Life
One of the most important parts of a mission is its water system, with out it they would have surely failed as a mission because they would not have had water to irrigate their crops as well as bring them water for their families and their livestock. An acequia was used through out all of the missions in one way or another. The initial survival of a new mission depended upon the planting and harvesting of crops. In south central Texas, intermittent rainfall and the need for a reliable water source made the design and installation of an acequia system a high priority for all the missions. The main acequia that is part of the San Antonio Missions is the Espada Aqueduct, which serves water to The San Francisco de la Espada Mission. Completed in 
1740, the acequia diverted river water from the San Antonio River into an acequia madre (mother ditch). The use of acequias was originally brought to the arid regions of Spain by the Romans and the Moors. When Franciscans missionaries arrived in the desert Southwest they found the system worked well in the hot, dry environment, that which was like the environment here in Texas. In order to distribute water to the missions along the San Antonio River, Franciscan missionaries oversaw the construction of seven gravity-flow ditches, dams, and at least one aqueduct, a 15-mile network that irrigated approximately 3,500 acres of land. The dam, ditch, and aqueduct survived a century of Indian attacks, ravaging floods, and controversy before the dam was repaired, in 1895. The dam had a huge impact on the missions Indians because it was there only source of water. With out it they would have been unable to bring water to irrigate there crops and would not have had the food necessary to feed there friends and family in the mission. You can just imagine what it would have been like without the acequia to bring them water, despite the hard work they put into building it. It is still in operation, but now plays a secondary role beside the modern dam. This water is used by residents living on these neighboring lands, for their water source and also for irrigating their farmlands all around the area. The people that lived in the missions before still live on in their decedents today as well as their culture lives on in the people today.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Mission Espada
I and a couple of classmates from my humanities class at Palo Alto College visited one of the missions here in San Antonio. Mission San Francisco de la Espada, also known as Mission Espada, is full of history it goes as far back as the 1600’s. The people of the missions were a diverse group of people made up mostly of Indians from all over the country, and were run by the Spaniards. The missions were here for many reasons the main one was to bring all the Indians from New Spain into Catholicism. Another reason for the missions was to make New Spain bigger and better than any other nation by bringing the Indians into the missions. They wanted to make the Indians civilized in their eyes and some Indians were forced to do so. The Indians were taken away from their former ways of living and thrown into a completely new way of life. The hardest part for the Indians to overcome was the concept of time, eating, worshiping in the parish, work, and even free time all had a certain part of the day that they needed to be done. Also the Indians were in a way forced to learn a new language because the priests and the soldiers were not going to learn their way of communication. Despite all that the people of the mission had to endure they still live on today although they may not live in the missions their culture is still apart of our world today.
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