Friday, December 19, 2008

Constable Training - Update

The training continues and I am close to being able to write citations. In my first post on training I said that I needed to get a Citation Book from "Frankfort". I first spoke to the administrative sergeant at the nearby post of the Kentucky State Police (KSP). That led to speaking to EIGHT people at KSP. I finally got a supply order form where I could order a case of 20 books! That would be 500 citations, which seemed overkill for someone doing only parking enforcement in a city of 8,000. I was finally able to get two citation books from the Constable Association. They came with an instruction sheet, a whole book of accident investigation forms, a book of forms for the Governor's Seat Belt Program and some other stuff that I am sure might be useful. I also picked up a pad of instructions on how to prepay a citation from the very helpful people at the Circuit Court Clerk's office.

To write a citation, you need a special number, called an ORI number. The one assigned to me was "inactive", so someone at KSP sent an email to the FBI to get it activated. I got confirmation on this within just a few days.

I had ordered a cap online with CONSTABLE printed on it. It arrived and I found out the Large/ Extra Large was too small for my big head. I returned it for credit and got one made at EmroiderMe. I picked up the new cap this past Monday.

On Wednesday, the Sergeant at the city police department was kind enough to give me a "citation writing" lesson. He covered what to put in each box on the form and what to do with the FIVE copies of the citation. In this lesson I found out that even for a parking citation I must put down the registered owner's (that's RO in police talk) name and address. In order to get this information I would need a contract with KSP so they can "run" plates for me. This lead to another call to the helpful administrative sergeant who told me that I needed to contact my county dispatch office and talk to the "Terminal Agency Coordinator" (or TAC officer, as I later found out.) Of course the TAC officer was not available, but I was told that if I had my ORI number, they could put me right in the system. I gave them the number, which did not show up as "active". So I faxed them my confirmation letter and I am waiting to hear back from them.

On Thursday I went to the Sheriff's office and had my picture taken for my ID. Everyone there was very helpful and got to meet the Sheriff. So now I can write citations, but only if the offender gives me his credentials and does not run away!

I'll write an update after I actually write my first citation. I'll also let you know the fees I can collect for these activities.

2 comments:

pita-woman said...

I don't know why I'm laughing, but I am. Have you kept track of your expenses thus far and figured out how many citations you're going to have to write in order just to break-even on this job?
Considering all you've had to go through, it's no wonder there was nobody else running for the position! You'll probably be the first ACTIVELY working constable this town has seen in a long time. Keep up the good work!!
btw...
It's a shame more of our (career) law-enforcement officials don't take their job as seriously as you do. :)

Junosmom said...

Look out, small town! Here comes the constable. Kudos to you for your persistence in getting ready for this job!