Recently I had the honor of being accepted into the 5th joint Polk County Sheriffs-Des Moines Police Department Citizen's Academy. Tonight, September 1st marked our first session and if tonight's any clue, it's going to be very informative and a lot of fun. Our class of 32 members came from all walks of life: cooks, retirees, counselors, salespeople, homemakers, college students, factory workers, professors, and many others.

This evening we met with the Chief of Police, Judy Bradshaw, the Polk County Sheriff Bill  McCarthy, and several other members of the academy staff. Chief Bradshaw is very well spoken and extremely adept at handling potentially thorny and contentious questioning. Sheriff McCarthy came up through the ranks of the DSM PD and was effusive in his praise of the Chief, Des Moines, and  the department in general. It was great to meet these folks and not have to be arrested, plus I learned a lot.

Of course the topic of real estate came up as it always does somehow. Tonight it came up in Sheriff McCarthy's discussion of his duties as Sheriff. He ruminated on how many of his duties do not directly involve criminal affairs and that a growing demand on his time is from civil matters such as sheriff sales and garnishments due to the struggling economy. He made the comment that last year was a record for his department in dealing with foreclosed homes and this year was set to equal or exceed last year. He made a very poignant remark in that the economy wasn't really getting that much better in his opinion but that people was just getting used to times not being as prosperous as they had been in the recent past.

The class will continue every Tuesday night  for nine weeks. Unfortunately I will miss next Tuesday the 8th as I will be the chairperson for DSM Precinct 75 for the 2009 school board election. There are many good candidates so if you're in Des Moines be sure you are registered so you can vote!