Don't know if this is the right thread for this but it sure has had an impact on my general preparedness/survival planning. One of the themes I see in this blog is the establishment of a preparedness/survival community in which to learn from. I've just expanded my community to include my local sheriff's office. I would encourage you to do the same. I am in the process of moving from the city (population 140,000) into the surrounding county. Like some of you I am looking for property to build my home/survival retreat. I plan to live in or near one of the smaller (pop. less than 2000) towns in my county. I have lived in this area for about 4 years and know the inter-working/politics of the city well enough but have little knowledge of the happenings in the county (1170 sq. miles). I went to my local sheriff's web site to look up county crime statistics and such to help narrow my location choices. I discovered that the sheriff's offices offered a 4 day Citizen's Academy. I just spent the last four Saturdays attending the classes and gained some valuable information and wanted to share some with you all. The classes covered a wide range of topics. From duties/services the dept provides to civil and criminal law in Oregon; from Threat Assessment to Forensics, from Patrol Procedures to emergency planning to training in a shoot-don't shoot simulator to communications. I learned about the major threats to our county (Meth/Gangs/Illegals), areas in the county to stay away from and location areas that were diamonds in the rough. I also learned about how my county was responding to these threats and in general how well they were prepared for emergency situations. But most important of all I learned a lot about the attitudes of the sheriff and his deputies. It was all positive to my way of thinking. The first statement from the sheriff was a question to us all. He asked who we thought he reported to and worked for. Most thought it was the county commissioners. They were wrong. He said he worked for us and that this was not his department but our department. In Oregon, the Sheriff is the only elected law enforcement official and is therefore the senior law enforcement agency in the county (counties include all cities there in). There jurisdiction is over the whole county. He also stated later on that he supported the Second and our right to self-defense. Oregon is a "shall issue" state for CWPs and this sheriff has made the application process very easy to follow. He also stressed that he did not want to be seen as an "occupying force." He stressed that in the event of a long term emergency we (sheriff's dept and county citizens) were on our on and that we would need to work together to survive the situation. All of his deputies echoed these themes over the next four days. They all stressed establishing a partnership in protecting our county and preparing for emergencies both short and long term. I was surprised by how much they stress preparedness. In addition to all of this great info I gathered I also discovered that they offer free training. All you have to do is be a volunteer. So I signed up for Search and Rescue and Boating Safety patrol. I will let you know how the training goes. In fact, I am thinking of becoming a reserve deputy (a non-paid volunteer position). So you might want to get to know your local sheriff - his attitudes my be 180 from my sheriff's but at least you will know. Take some time to find out about your county or the county you plan to retreat to. I would encourage all of you to attend a citizen's academy or if your sheriff's dept does not have one have them start one. Regards, Prepareordie
Sounds like you got a good one there. Nice to know where he stands. Also, it's good that they offer such a variety of training. It should come in handy. Never thought of doing that myself, though here in SF they may just look at me like I'm the dumbest thing since the clintons. Besides, I don't even want to know what lessons they might teach here.... How to properly turn in your guns 101. Why it's good to always love our jihadi brothers. Where to hide should our jihadi brothers decide we're better off dead. Arabic 101. How to properly strap yourself to a ticking timebomb. And many more classes for us in LiberalLand to learn about. And you see I put it in order that it will go. Lay down the guns, love muhammad, try to hide our heads in the sand, learn the language and then become a tool to be used to fight for allah. I just wonder if you would get a certificate afterwards? Yeah, right. Okay now that I've done hijacking the thread, I think it is a good idea to learn as much as we can for when the time comes. It will be a coming together of the groups when it is all said and done. After all, we'll have a world that we have to restart.
Sounds like really good stuff. It's good to see some sheriff depts wanting to work with the citizens, and the more cops in your area that your familiar with, the better!
