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Photo Pru Sowers
New Provincetown police officers Scott Peters, L.J. Silva, Ryan Peters and Geoffrey Pavao are completing the last of their training and will receive their regular assignments later this month. |
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New officers learn an uncommon beat
Banner Daily Update Tues. Apr. 1
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — Some might think that being a police officer is easy in a small town like this one, where the crime rate is low and the police log in the winter sometimes has as many calls reporting an injured seagull as an actual crime.
But that’s not how the four newest officers on the Provincetown police force see it. The four, who graduated from the police academy Feb. 14 and are currently finishing up their local training, are seeing the town through new eyes, realizing there are unique challenges to law enforcement here. First, there are the slow winter months, something the four officers are learning from spending time as dispatcher, handling calls to the police station, as part of their initial training.
“My first night I got two calls, all from the same woman: what time was it and what day was it,” said new Patrolman L.J. Silva laughing.
“Not being from Provincetown, it seemed incredibly slow. Everyone’s been telling me to be happy because once summer hits, it will be a madhouse,” added Patrolman Geoffrey Pavao, son of Provincetown school principal Dr. Floriano Pavao. “But it was good. I was able to familiarize myself with the systems and codes.”
Then there is the summer, a completely different animal for police officers. Although only one of the four new patrolmen has spent a summer here working as a policeman, they all know what’s coming.
“We’re very diverse here and I don’t even mean gay. From [local street performer] Miss Ellie to 80,000 people coming here for July 4th to Bear Week to Women’s Week. You can’t ever treat them the same. The town will change overnight with a certain group coming in,” Silva said.
“It makes it harder on us. You’re dealing with so many aspects of people,” said Patrolman Ryan Peters. “In a town of 20,000 of the same people, you can have the same style. Here, you have to adjust your style of policing.”
The police academy gives its graduates general training on law enforcement in the 22-week course, “all the tools in the toolbox,” according to Acting Police Chief Warren Tobias. But the specialized knowledge and training that allows a local cop on the beat to do a good job can only be learned on the streets.
“We show them how to use the tools and how to become a Provincetown police officer,” Tobias said. “The law is the same. But we have our own style and ways of doing things here.”
For more on this story see the April 3 issue of the Banner.
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Mar 27th, 2008