Real-life police work isn't like TV shows
If there's one thing that's been consistent during this year's Schaumburg Citizens Police Academy so far, it's the insistence of patrol officers, detectives, judges and prosecutors that the real work of law enforcement bears little resemblance to its portrayal on TV.
This time it was the turn of "CSI" to come under attack, as Tom Todd from Schaumburg's civilian forensics team explained the task of crime scene processing.
While the show might bear some of the trappings of reality in its characters' jargon and equipment, the likelihood of a cell phone camera identifying a murderer from a reflection in an eye is almost laughably low, Todd said.
And discovering and identifying fingerprints aren't the simple tasks they've been portrayed as in fiction for a century, he added.
Todd demonstrated some of the equipment he uses, including a material for taking impressions of fingerprints, footprints and damage to objects.
Todd then warned those with an aversion to the sight of blood to beware before taking the class through a photographic tour of a real-life death investigation (after the body had been removed). He pointed out evidence -- clear to the experienced eye -- that seemed to eliminate any possibility but suicide as the cause of death.
'Suburban SWAT': Officer Scott Tillema, the host of my patrol ride-along a few weeks ago, explained his and the department's involvement with the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System, NIPAS.
The system's membership is an A to Z of 96 suburban departments -- from Antioch to Zion -- that responds in any pressing emergency when manpower is a must.
Types of calls likely to prompt NIPAS activation is an armed, barricaded subject or a hostage situation. While major cities like Chicago have their own SWAT teams for such calls, the suburbs have pooled their resources to make NIPAS their SWAT team.
Tillema is a specially trained negotiator for NIPAS. As calls for his services can happen at any time -- often in the middle of the night -- he keeps his NIPAS-specific equipment with him whether he's on duty or not.
A behavioral science major in college, Tillema said he was drawn to this particular aspect of NIPAS operations.
Two tires better than four: A squad car with its lights and siren on might be the fastest way of getting from one end of Schaumburg to another, but it's not necessarily the most maneuverable.
That's where the department's bicycle patrol comes in.
Whether it's getting up close to the packs of teens hanging around the Streets of Woodfield movie theater on Friday nights or traversing a narrow alley where a drug deal is in progress, being on a bike can often be an advantage for officers.
On a more positive note, bike patrol officers find it easier to have good relationships and communication with the people on their beat.
The officers may still need to respond to a call in which the greater speed of a squad car is required, but their cars are often parked not far away.
• Staff Writer Eric Peterson is enrolled in this spring's Schaumburg Citizens Police Academy and is writing about his experiences in this weekly column. Many area police departments offer such academies, so check with yours if you're interested in participating.