Day 20: Send in the SWAT team!

We went to Edmond Police Station, Bomb Squad and SWAT team. This was a very big day but was really looking forward to watching the SWAT demonstration with their large variety of guns.

Firstly we got to the Edmond Police Station and had a talk with the head of the patrol officers. There are different units within the station such as dog squad, highway patrol, lake patrol etc. There are 15 officers a shift so that they can cover the large area. They get 200 calls a day and about 70,000 a year with crimes like, auto burgulary, theft, vandalism, traffic accidents etc. However to get to the police force they need 3 months of training, in the training facility in Ada (Day 6).

We had the chance to see the Bomb Squad. To be part of the bomb squad they need to undertake a 6 week training course ($6,000). Under this they need to do a lot of studying about varying bombs and how to dispose of them safely. They teach problem solving, electronics, robot use, electronics, engineering, explosives etc. It was only 2 years ago that the bomb squad got a van specificly for the bomb disposal. Prior to this they were using a modified ambulance and took them a significantly longer time to deploy a base of operations. In this van they have a robot used to observe bombs from a safe distance.In the van they have other specialised equipment such as, hazard suits, batteries (for the robot), radiation detectors, thick container to transport bombs (to detonate in a safe location) etc. They approximately get 2/3 calls a month, which can vary from suspicious packages, naurotic acids, expanding packages and pipe bombs. They are aos on call to create explosives for creating entrances, which can be creating an exit through the wall or blowing open the window or door. 

We had a quick visit to the Emergency Operations Centre. This is where they take the 911 calls, and inform the appropriate authorities. So if there is a theft in a certain area then they dispatch the police that are responsible in that area. They are quick to calls and dispatching the services.

Next was a demonstration from the SWAT team. We had a talk with them about the various weapons that they used under different situations. The different armour that they wear, as it is bigger and heavier than the standard armour that the police wear. Also the non-lethal weapons used to disable the individual for example a gun that shoots out hard rubber pellets to hinder their mobility. They demonstrated these weapons such as the sniper rifle, assault rifle, non lethal rifle and flash bang grenades. I must say from films and TV they are louder than I thought. Luckily we had the ear plugs to lessen the noise.

We also had a small demonstration, of the attack dog. They use it primarily to recover evidence that has been dropped by the culprit, find missing persons and drug searching. It was a fairly scary seeing what the attack dog does when its set on you.

After the SWAT team we had the chance to go to a very interesting Route 66 museum. Run by one person you can turn up at the door and have a look round his house. It was bursting to the brim of Route 66 merchandise and history. Was a very unique museum and was glad to have gone (plus had my photo taken with a Route 66 sign.). Then rounding off the day with all of us enjoying some pizza and film at J Mills flat.

I had an enjoyable time at the internship, it was a worthwhile watching the demonstration and meeting the bomb squad. Its a once in a lifetime experience and was glad that we had the chance to meet the members of the SWAT and bomb squad.

Day 19: Law and Order

Off to see the Attorney General (AG). I literally have no idea what they do or what one is. Not really heard of them in the UK but did some research and they fulfil the similar role as the attorney general  in the UK.

Firstly, what are the duties of the Attorney General? The duties of the attorney general include:

• Providing legal advice and representation to legislators.
• Provide legal advice and consultation to varying organisation such as OSBI, FBI, police, department of health etc. 
• Legal advisor to politicians, governors and the state.

They deal with lawsuits against the states. So for example, if someone was mistreated by state run organisations and the individual sued them, the AG would be responsible in dealing with the law suit. Also if the state needs to file a lawsuit against a company or individual then they are responsible for that.

They have different units, which deal with different aspects. First is the general council, where they give out general legal advice. Next is litigation, which deal with representation of the state. They can either represent the state in a lawsuit against someone and defend the state under lawsuits. The next is medical fraud which deal with lawsuits in medical contexts. So legal concepts in federal funded medical insurance ( e.g., not paying out on insurance when supposed to), evaluate poor/old individuals when covering medical costs when they do not have insurance. Next is public protection which involves using the law to protect and take care of vulnerable individuals, e.g. adults with mental disabilities and children.

Next was the Chief of Criminal Appeals, which represent and preserve the constitution of the guilty. Also ensure the punishment imposed are carried out. Through the varying levels of prosecution, if they are found guilty of the crime, the guilty party has the right for an appeal. So if they were sentenced with the death penalty, with a strong defence they can reduce this to life with or without parole. They can usually do this by highlighting the inaccuracies of the court, the exclusion of some evidence (introduction of new evidence that was not originally in the case), proving the council was incompetent. They also have the defendant to pleas so that he can reduce his sentence. However with the amount of documentation at the arguments heard then the individual could be sent to execution. They can set the date back of execution through executive clemency. Both the defence and the prosecutor give the judge a booklet with details of the crime and for the defence what reasons would they not want to be executed.

After a fairly short day we had the chance to go to White Water Bay for a bit of a tan, relaxation and lie in the pool for the rest of the afternoon. Its such a difficult day that the only we can recover is through a nice dip in the pool. Went on one of the rides there but after that felt a bit winded landing in the water.

In the evening we went to Frontier City (an amusement park). I was a bit apprehensive to begin with since most amusement park look the same after a while. However I had a lot of fun there, even though my bumper car stopped working, so was getting hit from all sides. Even went on the huge roller-coaster that went in loop round. Other rides we went on were log flumes, rapids, a couple of roller-coasters etc. It was a great evening, even though we were all wet from the log flume ride. It was a good way to end the day.

Day 18: MIPT

A fairly short day, with going to the MIPT (National Memorial Insitute for the Prevention of Terroism) and then the Oklahoma City National Museum. 

The MIPT was established as an institute dedicated to terrorism prevention (domestic and international). It used to improve the policing and information skills of the 850,000 law enforcement officers in the US.  InCOP (Information Collection on Patrol) is a series of workshops that enhance departmental intelligence capacity, both in traditional crime and terrorism prevention, by progressively improving the collection skills of the line officer, improving the quality and quantity of acquiring the information. There are 4 different types of InCOP. InCOP 1 is centred around information collecting so that they report suspicious activity. This should make them more aware of their surroundings. InCOP 2 is where they learn about source assessment and development. This is where they develop skills in recognising a good resource. InCOP 3observes an open facilitated dialogue between officers and crime analyst. While InCOP 4 teaches the evolution and changes of the terrorism threat, the current terrorist threat, terrorist tactics and operations and how to develop warnings and indicators as well as detect them. With the training the different services try and remain 1 step ahead as prevention is the goal. This is training is always training and remains up to date and fits around the trainee. 


After the presentation we had the chance to go through the Oklahoma City National Museum. The museum guides you through the events of the Oklahoma Bombings in April 19th, 1995. Starting from when the Alfred P Murrah Federal building was built, the minutes before the bombing then the minutes, days, weeks and years following the bombing. 


You go through the museum in a chronological museum. You learn about the layout of the building and what it looked like before the incident. You then move to another part of the museum where you can hear an official recording of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board meeting, the building just across the street from the Murrah Buildings. The meeting started at 9:00am, and about 2 minutes into the recording you can hear the bomb that went off across the street. When you listen to the meeting, it just sounds like any other meeting, then you hear the explosion, everything changes for them and everything is in disorder. Then you go to the next section of the museum where you see some of the wreckage from the disaster, destoryed files, miscelanious left on the site, rubble etc. Then you watch the news coverage of the incident and the confusion of what had just happened to them. Its such a devastating thing that could have happened to so many people. 


You hear the stories of the rescue effort, trying to get as many survivors out of the wreckage and to be reunited with their loved ones. During the first few hours after the explosion, its frantic rescue. Other rescue services from the different states. Then the final hours of the rescue operations. The museum have a gallery to honor the lives of the 168 who were killed.


They have a section of the museum which shows the investigation trying to catch the culprit who set off the bomb. Mcveigh, the man who parked the van containing the bomb outside the Murrah building, was caught in the first couple of days after the bombing, in Kanasa. He was pulled over by the police officer for a driving fault, so the police officer did not know he was responsible for the incident. However back in Oklahoma, a part of the car was recovered that was traced to McVeigh. Other evidence that was found, was the large quantities of raw materials that were used to create the bomb. The other eivdence that the FBI recovered was numerous. So this lead to the guilty verdict against McVeigh and therefore the eventual execution. 


Going through the museum it does make you wonder why someone would do something so heinous.

Day 17: 4th of July

So its the 4th July/Independence Day,  to commemorate the creation of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, making themselves independent from the British. Seemed a bit weird celebrating it, but was a good reason to have a big party.

In the morning there was a huge parade of floats, cars, bands, dancers etc from 9am til about 10.30am. Unfortunately I missed the first 15 minutes but I enjoyed the rest. The parade included so much stuff like the armed forces, Ford cars, a giant flag, marching bands, the Oklahoma theme, baton twirlers. Took plenty of pictures but can only put a few up.

Had a few hours break to just write a couple of postcards before we all went to Melissa's flat. There we had some nice home cooked american food (ribs, burgers, sausages, potato salad, sugar cookies etc). All was absolutely filling and delicious.I had to go up for seconds! It was nice being relaxed and chatting with great company.

Later that evening, we went back to the campus to watch the firework display. I must say those were the best fireworks I have ever seen. Lasted about 1 hour, they shot up so many fireworks that it illuminated the sky. Especially the finale where they shot up so many fireworks that they brightened the sky with an explosion of colours. The bangs from some of the louder fireworks set off the alarms of nearby cars! With a great view of the fireworks it was a good evening. It was a great to end the 4th July and was glad to have experienced such an American tradition.

Day 15 &16: Shop Til You Drop

Time to Chill by the pool. This is going to be a short one since it's only going to the waterpark, mall shopping and eating steak.

Saturday: Went to White Water Bay again. This time I was determined not to get sun burnt. So applying thick layers of 50 spf sun-cream. After the excitement of zip-lining and abseiling, wasn't really in the mood to go down the water-slides. One thing I tried when I was there, was dippin dots. Its an ice cream shaped into ball bearing sized balls. Its really nice, however they begin to melt after a short amount of time in this weather. It was a relaxing day, going down the lazy river and bathing in the hot sun, getting my tan on for graduation. Later on, we had the chance to go to a healthy restaurant. I mean, I do enjoy burgers and pizza, but there is a limit of how much I can eat. So a nice healthy wrap with couscous made a change from the chilli dogs and fries. Later on that evening, had a chance to go to Bricktown to go on the water taxi to have a look round the night life district of Oklahoma City. It was a gentle ride around the area with a fairly odd but funny driver.

Sunday: So another mall trip and had the chance to buy a few more clothes for myself. Since a lot of clothes here are better and cheaper than the ones back home (its good not having to see t-shirts with skulls on them). So came back with converse trainers, couple of jeans (2 for $55), a sweatshirt and a t shirt. All in all good purchases. For dinner we went to Cattlemen's Steakhouse for, you guessed it, steak!

Tomorrow its time to celebrate the 4th of July.

Day 14: Ride Em' Cowboy

Hunting

Time to take in a bit of Oklahoma in. But first Ihop (International house of pancakes). Some of the best pancakes I have ever had. And for 2 pancakes (with eggs, bacon and sausage), it was very filling. But would love to go again (note to self: try and get Ihop have a restaurant in the UK).

Native American Tribes in Oklahoma

Then there was a few mile drive to The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. In there we saw an 'Englishmans' desk of western guns, revolvers, rifles. Then a reconstructed western town at dawn (you can see me in the jail, for most wanted). Then a room with probably a handful of western films (not might sort of genre... don't really count Brokeback Mountain as Western). Then a brief look at native american history,what they used to wear when facing the cowboys and what tribes were found in the state of Oklahoma. And the different activities in the rodeo and when it was first set up. After this we had a journey up to Mt Scott to get a view of Oklahoma. It was such a scenic view, had a chance to take a few good photos (See Below).

Me and the Seismic Meersburger

Next was lunch/dinner at Meers, a very rural restaurant, in the middle of nowhere. I must say for the decour, it was very rustic and rough. And looks as though it has been there for quite a while. Had the chance to have something called the Seismic Meersburger. Basically, longhorn meat, cheese, mayo, bacon, lettuce and I don't know what else, but was very nice (and very filling). Was glad to try it but dread to think how many calories were in it. So an experience of Oklahoma history and cuisine.

Day 13: Draw!

At the OSBI Fusion Centre

No not pistols at dawn draw, but pencil and paper. We went to the OSBI (Oklahoma State Beurau of Investigation), to see how they take in all information from different agencies such as the sheriff, police, CSI etc and distribute the information among those agencies that haven't got the data. For example, the police may be investigating a homicide case and they know the registration of the car,so the fusion centre collects the data and sends it to the patrol officers.

But first we met the forensic artist, Harvey Pratt. He was amazing at what he does. He has worked on certain cases such as the Green River killer, BTK killer and Ted Bundy cases. He does many things in facial recognition when given description of the suspect and he draws said suspect. When viewing the sketches of the suspect and the photo of the caught suspect, it can be seen that there is a very close similarity between them both. With missing persons, when he put scans the sketches into the database to try and find people, it does come up similar looking people. It was useful in trying to find different people and when trying to identify suspects to see if they have previous convictions. It was the first time that a sketch was used to try and identify someone!

Another aspect of forensic art that he does, is age progression. This is when he takes the photo of either a fugutuive/missing person and tries to draw them so they know what the person look likes like after a few years. For the missing person, he gathers photos of close family and tries to establish what the person may look like when observing certain facial features at a particular age. For example for a missing person at the age of 12 years and it has been 4 years, he would gather photos of the mother, father and grandparents, look at features that would remain prominent through the teen years and other facial features that would appear. For fugitives, he would age the persons face trying to use any available family photos or trying to age the person using a common traits such as more wrinkles, receding hairline etc. So someone on the run for 20 years he would be able to draw what they looked like if they gained more weight, grown a beard/moustache etc. 

He also conducts skull reconstruction, by taking photos of the skull from various angles then sketching out the design and then creating the skull. With either creating the skull or using the original he is able to see what the face of the victim would have looked like. He would use 12 markers on the skull to plot the soft tissue of the face. There were other parts of the skull which could identify the facial features of the face. For example the spine of the nose (that small bone at the bottom of the nose), if you times the length of that, its the measurement of the length of the nose. Or measuring the teeth can indicate the fullness of the victims lips. Also when given the body, and the body has deteriorated, he can restore any tattoos which could potentially help identify the victim.

As well as that he is famous for his many paintings, murals and crests for the organisation. He has submitted a lot of paintings to the Red Earth festival. And he is the head of a native American tribe.

Next we were told a bit more about the OSBI fusion centre. This was set up two years ago and there are approximately 74 in the USA. The centre collects all the information  and gather up resources themselves, then to collate the information then let other people know. They want to collect and analysis of terrorism intelligence and other criminal activity information relating to the state of Oklahoma.  They gather information from police, sheriffs, judges, CSI etc. but also teachers, workers, ambulance etc. As they try and look for weird information.


A fairly short day and finished in the early afternoon. In the evening we had the chance to go to the cinema to watch Bridesmaids. It was a very funny film and was glad to see it (even though I would rather watch X-Men first class). The favourite part of the day was to meet Harvey Pratt as I have never learned anything about forensic art. And the print that he had given us was excellent, such a well drawn picture, I will need to get a frame for it when I am back home.

Day 12: Wild Wild West

Abseiling

So we went to look at Western Oklahoma law enforcement, so for example, the sheriff, patrol officers etc. But first we went to Southern Oklahoma State University campuses (it was more of a training field with rope, zip lines and training exercises).


There we were shown what some of the police officers need to go through to pass the course at the university. The exercises were there for team building, communication and increase their fitness. At the beginning we did a couple of exercises in working as a team to arrange ourselves on a wooden poll without getting off the pole. Also going through different holes of a rope web, without touching the rope. To do these you needed all the team communicating to each other and motivate them to do the task.


Following that was the repelling off a wall, ziplines and indoor rock climbing. I must say I was quite worried doing these tasks, since I am not entirely confident doing these tasks. However I thought I should try everything once and I should give it a go. So we put on our harnesses for the activities and we were ready to do the first one which was abseiling (or the American term is rappelling). Just trying to get to the top of the tower to abseil down was the tough. Since you have the compulsion to look down it a bit unnerving. Although it didn't feel as bad because I had the harness as a support just in case I fell. I got to the top and was ready to lean over the edge. They tell you to put the weight over the side and the one thing you think is, 'If I do that I am worried that I will fall'. But after the intial worry you feel fairly confident about it and begin to abseil. Fair enough it wasn't a huge height but it was something I was glad that I got to do when I reached the ground. I even gave it a second go.

Zip-lining

Next was the zip-line. I have only ever done these in the park, where you can easily jump off and you don't need a safety harness. With this one you had to go along a pole, quite a few feet up in the air, then jump to the platform to go down on the zip-line. The scariest part of that was walking along the wooden poll, with the wind trying to push you off. Even with the harness I was afraid of falling off. But when you get to the zip-line part and you go speeding off with the wind blowing through your hair its adrenaline pumping. 


After all the excitement we head to one of the field of operations, where there are 6 officers and one internet officers (crimes involving the internet). They cooked us a nice lunch and talked about what their duties are. One of the officers was a bull rider and is now training the police officers. 


Next was the DA (District Attorney) office. This is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offences. So he and his other assistants go through the cases to see which cases go to court. There is an election every 4 years to see who will become the next DA. The one we saw was in charge of one of the largest (by area) districts, covering 5 counties with approximately 70,000 people. When deciding if a case should go through he must observe if the individual suspect committed the crime (if there is enough evidence against him) and was there a crime committed.


When discussing the duties of a DA he went into detail about drug related/driven crimes. The drug which is causing a lot of problems is Meth. He went onto explain that it completely alters the person and everything else is 2nd when wanting the drug. There have been more crimes when the individual takes meth. 


The next stop (which was only a walking distance away from the DA) was the sheriffs office. The sheriff is elected by the population of the country and is one of the highest law enforcement officers in the county. Here is where the criminal stay before, during and after prosecution, before being moved off prison. We were given a tour of the facility, only recently built. It houses a fair few convicts in separate sections for men and women and are under constant watch. There is also facilities for them to have medical and emergency care. And there is a large bus to transport them to the various prisons in Oklahoma. 


Finally is the visit to the highway patrol office. When talking to them they are responsible for the law of the roads. In this particular area, they need to cover a large area but have very few troopers available. With the number of long roads in this state there needs to be more highway patrol men. 


It was enlightening to know a bit about the law enforcement that is responsible for catching the criminals in the more rural areas. It showed me how important the rural law enforcement is when trying to trying to find the suspect. 

Day 11: The Lock up

It was time for the trip to the department of corrections. An early start after the 21st birthday was such a bad move. But got up nonetheless and still found it a really interesting visit. Also knowing where the priosners go after being caught and prosecuted by the court is quite intriguing.

When a prisoner enters the department of corrections they are given an identification which is stuck with them the whole time while in prison and if they commit another offence. They are assigned to level 2, which indicates how dangerous they are and how many privileges they are allowed. Level 1 are for people that are considered highly dangerous and uncooperative, which get less privileges (bed and toilet, with less time out of their cells). However Level 4 they gain more privileges such as televisions, more time out of cell, access to dog training facilities and different acitivites. The way in which they can go from level 2 to 4, after 2 months, if they have good behaviour they can access the varying facilities which were not already accessible to them. However if doing something bad, can result in decrease in levels. This is different from the prisons in the UK since most of the prisoners get the same amount of time and privileges.

While we were there we saw the different areas that the prisoners were in. So level 1 with the highly dangerous criminals. It was a bit weird seeing them out of their cells when we were looking around. Felt a bit intimdating but they wouldn't have done anything since there was 3 guards with us.

I did ask about the number of psychologists that were in the prison, which there were about 3 of them. Was wondering if they needed a psychology assistant. And the guide gave me a brief overview of what they do, by assessing them before coming into the prison, different therapies that can be administered to change their behaviour (CBT) etc.

The level 4 inmates could take part in a dog training programme which was something I hadn't heard of before. What they do is that they have certain dogs in the prison for a set amount of time and are walked around the green by the inmates. They are trained to be rescue dogs, dogs for the blind and the elderly. So they are providing something back to the community, which is good. Maybe an idea for the British prison system.

Just before we finished the tour we had a chance to go to the armour and a chance to hold a couple of guns (All not loaded, of course). Had the chance to hold a pistol, M60 (I think that is the name) and tear gas launcher. And we had a demonstration of what the riot shield was like. This one had a tasered, so that if someone touched it, it would shock them. Luckily none of us had to volunteer for that and one of the staff was the guinea pig for it.

Overall, it was only a short day but learned a bit about what goes on in the prison. Would have been good to have a talk to the psychologists there. May try and talk to the forensic psychologists that are in the prisons back home to know a bit more about the position.