Law Enforcement Training, Community Corrections, and One Place of the Shoals

Law Enforcement Training:

On Monday, October 28th, I, along with UNA Professor Suzanna Taylor, presented training for approximately 25 law enforcement officers regarding sexual assault investigations at the Marriott Conference Center in Florence. Ms Taylor is a former investigator with the Florence Police Department and is now an instructor in the Criminal Justice Department at UNA. The training was sponsored by the Alabama Coalition Against Sexual Violence (ACASV).

Community Corrections:

On Wednesday, I attended the Lauderdale County Community Corrections Board Meeting. I am a member of this board which oversees the work release center and other community-based corrections programs, including Drug Court and Court Referral Officers. The director of the board, Eugene Pierce, resigned unexpectedly on Monday. The board meeting was consumed with discussion of a strategy to operate the agency on a interim basis while determining a long-range plan regarding the leadership of the agency.

One Place of the Shoals:

On Friday, I attended a board meeting of the new organization, One Place of the Shoals, which is an entity we recently formed to establish a family justice center for our community. I am the President of this board. One Place is a partnership between our office, local law enforcement agencies, UNA, and local victim service providers (Rape Response, Safeplace, and Cramer Children’s Center) with a goal of providing victim services in one location in our area. We have a great board of directors and we are working on locating a building to bring this vision to fruition.