By the light of the silvery moon, the Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni welcomed the new Virginia Beach Chief of Police James A. “Jim” Cervera during our meeting last night. While he has enormous shoes to fill with the retirement of Chief Jacocks, I got the impression that he welcomes the challenge!
Although born in New Jersey we shall not hold that against him. (My husband is from NY so I had to get that little jab in) That challenge has left him with a wicked sense of humor and strong communication skills! He was even kind enough to welcome ME to “The Dark Side”. A quick learner, he realized quickly that I was already there.
Although, part of me fears he might have suffered some minor brain damage during his 32 year career on the force since he mentioned that he shrank over the years from 6’4″ to his current 5’9″ stature. Wow! This is a tough job folks! As I’ve stated before in previous blogs, he also has complaints about the Department causing hair loss. I see a pattern here….
While this gentleman has a history of Martha Stewart like “Good Things”, my favorite is the fact that as a Lieutenant, he was responsible for the development of the Citizen’s Police Academy of Virginia Beach back in the mid 90s. This is a super program that gives you the inside scoop on how a real police department runs and best of all it’s FREE! If you are interested in attending, here’s a link to an application for the 2011 spring classes. Maybe you too can meet the Chief in person – from the RIGHT side of the bars!
I’d also like to give kudos to Bob Christman last night for a super, although at times challenging, presentation about the technology available to the Department! Believe it or not, even with the current budget challenges, this city is actually in the 21st Century!
(I’ll have you know that I’ve been running around like crazy to prep for the retirement of my husband, the Lt. Colonel, from 21 years in the Marines Corps so for me to take the time to blog for the first time in months should tell you something.)
