The Police News
Sunday, January 17, 2010

Additional Photos

GALVESTON - Saturday's open house and formal announcement of Galveston's Community Oriented Policing Initiative could only be considered a resounding success.

Many braved rain and cold weather to tour the police headquarters and see first hand some of the techinical and scientific parts of police works which many never learn about.

Individual police districts, now renamed 'communities' presented their own displays with photographs and biographies of the officers assigned to those neighborhoods.

SWAT and Hostage Negotiators set up displays of the equipment they use to carry out their typically dramatic operations.  The Special Response Teams, Underwater Rescue and Recovery Teams, Vice and Narcotics Teams, were all on display to the public.

Tours were conducted throughout police headquarters which is normally unaccessible to the public without first going through a security sign-in process and requiring a personal escort.  Visitors saw the Criminal Identification Division, Patrol Division, Records Division, Criminal Investigation Division, and the administrative offices or command offices and members of the Galveston Police Department, Citizen's Police Academy Alumni Association manned a recruting booth in the main lobby.

Several local officials were present including Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas, City Manager Steve LaBlanc, City Councilmembers Tarus Woods and Danny Weber.  Also State District Judge Lonnie Cox, County Court-At-Law Judge Mary Nell Crapitto and Justice of the Peach Jim Schweitzer.

Police Chief Charles Wiley officially announced the Galveston Neighborhood Policing Initiative.

Of particular interest to many was the CSI Division which has forever been the scientific and technical hub of criminal investigation.  Made famous by TV programs where these men and woman solve difficult crimes in less than 30 minutes, allowing for commercials.  This is a highly skilled group of people who virtually can make or break a criminal case.

So we took the tour of CSI with Sgt. Reyna Ochoa and Crime Scene Investigators Rick McCullor and Scott Pena.