News From The Decatur Police Department
Submitted by: Lt. Proncey Robertson
The Decatur Police Department is hosting National Night Out on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.
National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. National Night Out enhances the relationship between neighbors and law enforcement while bringing back a true sense of community. Furthermore, it provides a great opportunity to bring police and neighbors together under positive circumstances.
What does this mean for you? NNO is a great crime prevention tool. The more you know about your neighborhood, the more you can do to keep it safe. During NNO millions of neighbors, businesses, and churches take part by hosting block parties, festivals, parades, cookouts, and various other community events with safety demonstrations, seminars, and visits from emergency personnel. The Decatur Police Department looks forward to sharing the fun with you!
Each group that registered their party or event with the police department by June 23rd will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a PRIZE PARTY PACK for your National Night Out party. To register, receive a planning packet, and
The Decatur Police Department will be hosting various challenges between participating neighborhoods and organizations. We will release more details about those challenges as we draw closer to the date. We can’t wait to see just how competitive and creative you guys can get! Stay tuned for details.
For more information regarding National Night Out, please visit https://natw.org/about and contact Officer Atchley at hlatchley@decatur-al.gov .
New Police Academy Graduates
Chief Nate Allen held a special ceremony on July 21st, 2017 @ 9:00 AM at Calhoun Arts Center to welcome our department’s 11 newest police academy graduates. They are:
Ofc. David May
Ofc. Jonathan Bates
Ofc. Adam Ridgeway
Ofc. Durand Prince
Ofc. Darius Carr
Ofc. Jack Brown
Ofc. Angel Medina
Ofc. Corey Cochran
Ofc. Derrick Colley
Ofc. Damion Bankhead
Ofc. Sean Mukaddam
Alternative Choices Education System (ACES)
The Alternative Choices Education System (ACES) program is a week long summer program designed to present youths with alternatives to drugs and gangs, provide them with positive role models and improve the law enforcement/youth relationship in the community. The program is administered by the Decatur Police Department and targets those age 8-14.
The programs use exposure to different activities in a friendly and fun atmosphere. Children participate in different fun activities that include sports, games, crafts, learning from role models and guest speakers, and exposure to law enforcement. The programs take place at different locations city wide, allowing youths of all backgrounds to participate.
The 2017 ACES program has come to a close. We are proud to announce this year that we had 85 children who participated in our summer camp in both June and July. The children enjoyed visits to Wilson Morgan Park where they played games and made crafts with our police officers and Explorers. They also listened to a guest speaker who brought along his prized Emmy’s for show-and-tell. They went on 2 field trips: WYAM TV51 where they learned all about television and radio production and even got to speak on live radio, also they went on a trip to Burritt on the Mountain where they learned about the primitive lifestyle while visiting their 19th century cabins, farm animals, making dolls, churning butter, playing games, and panning for gold. On Friday, they spent the day at Point Mallard Waterpark.
The Decatur Police Department would like to send a special thanks to these area businesses and individuals for their participation and donations to the ACES program: Lowe’s, Bill and Suzie Wiley at WYAM TV51, Dion Hose of Channel 48, Burritt on the Mountain, Decatur City Parks and Recreation, Decatur City Schools, Walmart, Pepsi, Chick-fil-A, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, and Dominos.