Class Ending
Today we had another APD Victim Services volunteer training session.  As usual, we covered some of the types of crimes/events that the crisis teams are summoned to, and did some role-playing.  In addition, we had a talk and q/a session by a 16-year veteran police sergeant[*], which I found very interesting for its insights into the mindset of dedicated patrol officers.  We also had a session on sexual harassment that was clearly geared toward a different audience: it was mostly common sense and common knowledge; certainly nothing that a roomful of volunteers for a gig that requires both empathy and at least a little counseling experience were likely to find surprising or informative.

That last sentence got away from me a little, but I hope it made at least some sense.

Tomorrow is the last day of the class.  There has been surprisingly little attrition; we've only lost 7 of our original 24, which surprises me: the material isn't difficult, but it is emotionally demanding, and the time commitment (two entire weekends) isn't trivial either.  I suspect that there may be a little tactful weeding going on as well; two of our classmates expressed some distressingly uncompassionate views on different occasions, and both failed to return the next day.  I would not have felt comfortable talking to either of them if I were in crisis, but I think I would be OK with any of the ones who remain at this point.

All in all, I think it's an impressive program.


[*] Betcha didn't picture a woman when I said "16-year veteran police sergeant", but she was.