Community

Juvenile Services

SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

 

Since the 2001-2002 school year, the Fairview Heights Police Department, in partnership with Pontiac-William Holliday School District #105 and Grant-Illini School District #110, has provided the services of a School Resource Officer (SRO.)

The School Resource Officer concept is nationally recognized as a program that utilizes an experienced law enforcement officer in the school setting on a full time basis. The program is a team effort between police departments and members of the school community cooperatively addressing issues that impact the safety, learning environment, and other community concerns in and around the school setting. The SRO program is an integral part of the Community Oriented Policing philosophy. Each school becomes the School Resource Officer’s “community” to provide a full range of personalized police services.

Placing a police officer in the schools is not a response to serious problems that exist within the schools. Rather, it is a proactive approach to cooperatively identifying and crafting solutions to potential issues before they occur. Seeing a police car on school property is a sign of progress not problems.

Since its inception, the SRO program has seen a number of successes. As a community liaison, the SRO has assisted in coordinating the efforts of school personnel with community support services in resolving community related issues within the schools. Classroom presentations have given the SRO an opportunity to promote a better student understanding of our laws and the role of law enforcement in the community. The SRO’s regular presence in the schools has provided an opportunity for ongoing positive interaction with studenrs and school staff and has fostered a positive relationship with the school community.

In June of 2006, the School Resource Officer Program and the DARE Program were consolidated and a School Resource/DARE Officer was assigned to a specific school district.

 
The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program or D.A.R.E. is at the forefront of substance use prevention education programs and is being taught in 75% of our nations school districts. It began in 1983 in Los Angeles as a cooperative effort between the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Over the past 37 years, the D.A.R.E. curriculum has evolved and been revamped several times in order to stay current.

 

The program continues to utilize uniformed Law Enforcement officers as instructors. Each D.A.R.E. officer undergoes an extensive 80-hour program that provides the officer with the skills required to properly present the curriculum. This training, along with the officer on the street experience, provides the officer with the knowledge to answer the difficult questions often posed by young students.

Officer Carleton Rivers is the SRO for Pontiac and William Holliday and can be reached at rivers@fairviewpd.org

Officer Hinson is the SRO for Grant Middle School and Illini Elementary and can be reached at hinson@fairviewpd.org

Academies

MECOP

MECOP, short for Metro-East Cadets of Policing, was implemented as a bridge between the community and police, and to serve as a recruitment tool for minorities to join the police force. The goal is to get youth excited about policing, and giving back to the community so they may grow into leaders within the area.   

MECOP now meets twice per month on tuesdays at 5 p.m.

Contact Patrol Officer’s Wulf or Millington at mecop@fairviewpd.org, to join.  

CITIZENS’ POLICE ACADEMY

The Citizens Police Academy hosted its 10th session of this 10-week academy in the fall of 2022. The citizens meet one night per week for 10 weeks to learn more about policing in Fairview Heights. Activities include crime scene processing, police and county jail tours, drug enforcement, canine demonstrations, shooting at the police range and simulator, conduct mock vehicle stops and much more! The academy is co-coordinated by Officers Jon Friederich and Ryan Weisenborn, as well as Executive Assistant Amber Hopkins. This academy is a requirement to start volunteering with the Fairview Heights Police Department.

This free program is very popular and fills up quickly, as space is limited. Preference goes to Fairview Heights residents, but all are welcome to apply!

Our next Citizen’s Police Academy has been scheduled to start in August, 2023, and will meet for 10 weeks, meeting each Wednesday evening from 6-9 p.m. Application packets are in the PD lobby

 

SENIOR ACADEMY

The Senior Citizens’ Academy is celebrated its 29th year in 2022.  In 2023, the Senior Academy will begin in September  and run for 6 weeks on Thursday afternoons from 1-3:30 p.m.  Participants will be provided instruction on crime and safety pertinent to their needs and interests. This is a very popular program for our seniors! The program is led by Detective Alicia Hawthorne, who is one of the department’s Stop the Bleed and Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructors .   

YOUTH ACADEMY

The Fairview Heights Police Youth Academy is an innovative program that was first introduced in Fairview Heights in 1974. It has run every year since. The program is a two week academy held during the summer for young adults, 12 to 15 years of age. It exposes youth to facets of law enforcement , team building, leadership and community service. The academy costs $75 per student, and only 16 are accepted. Fairview Heights residents and past participants will be given priority over all other applicants. The program is coordinated by SRO Jeff Hinson, SRO Carleton Rivers, and Administrative Assistant to the Police Chief, Amber Hopkins.

In 2023, we will be running our 47th session of the Youth Academy, which will be held in June. Participants can take part in physical training, tours of the St. Clair County Jail, learn valuable skills in Stop the Bleed, and watch demonstrations by our SWAT officers.  They will learn online computer safety, drug awareness, self-defense, and learn leadership skills.

Thank you to all who made last year’s virtual academy a success.  We are very excited to be able to have an in-person academy this year.  Don’t wait to sign up!

 

CRIME FREE MULTI-HOUSING PROGRAM

Seminar Dates

Attending and completing Parts One and Two of the selected seminar is required to maintain your residential license.

The Fairview Heights and O’Fallon Crime Free Rental Programs have recently combined efforts to provide rental property owners and managers with more class date options. Attending a seminar at either location will fulfill the ordinance attendance requirement.

Please RSVP prior to attending a seminar. Fairview Heights rental property owners/managers may RSVP for a seminar at either location by calling 618-489-2144 or 618-489-2003.

Seminars are subject to cancellation if less that 5 RSVP’s are received.

You will be notified of any cancellations at least 3 days prior to the scheduled date.

 Stay tuned to our announcements for the next class offering.  

PREMISE ALERT

What is the Premise Alert Program?

The Illinois Premise Alert Program (Public Act 96-0788 or 430 ILCS/132) allows people with special needs to provide information to police, fire, and EMS personnel to be stored in a database for use in an emergency situation. The information can then be provided to responders dealing with situations involving the special needs individuals.

How does it aid those with special needs or disabilities?

The program requires public safety agencies which utilize a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system to maintain a database of those citizens with special needs. The personnel manning the Fairview Heights Police Department Communications Center will have access to the special needs of a given individual and will transmit that information to first responders (police, fire, ambulance). The knowledge provided to the first responders will aid them in assisting you based on your situation or needs in an emergency situation or call for service. Individuals must understand that the information provided to the Premise Alert Program will not result in any type of preferential treatment to the individual.

How do I get involved in the program?

Complete the Premise Alert Program Enrollment Form. You can access the form by clicking here or the form may be picked up at the Fairview Heights Police Department, Fairview Heights Fire Department, French Village Fire Department or at the Fairview Heights Municipal Complex. Once the information is verified, the individual can be entered into the database. The information provided will be kept confidential and used only to provide police, fire, and EMS personnel with the information needed to deal with situations or emergencies involving a special needs person.

Who is eligible?

For the purposes of the Premise Alert program “disability” and “special needs individual” are defined as:

  • “Disability” means an individual’s physical or mental impairment substantially limits one or more of the major life activities; a record of such impairment; or when the individual is regarded as having such impairment.
  • “Special needs individuals” means those individuals who have or are at increased risk for a chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional condition and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by individuals generally.
QR Code for Jotform form

Here’s how to open the QR on a smartphone:

  1. Open the camera app.
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As of December 2007, the City of Fairview Heights is proud to offer its residents, free of charge, the opportunity to sign up to receive important information from the City by telephone.

The system will be used to notify residents about important information, such as missing children or disabled adults in your area, significant crime events in your area, evacuation routes during an emergency, temporary road closures, and other information that may be critical to your needs as a citizen. You can also sign up to receive notifications by text on your cell phone or by emails, too.

Fairview Heights is also the first community in the region to offer, at no charge, weather warnings to be sent to you by telephone. With this system, you will receive a telephone call whenever there is a severe thunderstorm, tornado, or winter storm warning issued for the City. These notices are only sent out if Fairview Heights is determined to be in the path of the storm. And, they are only sent out for weather warnings, not watches.

TEXT FAIRVIEWHTS TO 99411 TO ENROLL

 

Fairview Heights Police Department