Have You Completed Peace Officer Training?

For those of us that are not former court officers that is a good question. In order to be certified a peace officer by the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) we must complete both peace officer and firearm's training. If this training is not completed within the first 12 months of appointment you may not excercise your authority as a peace officer until you complete the requisite training. Additionally, you are not permitted to supervise personnel that either carries or has access to a firearm if you have not completed firearm's training. This information maybe news to some of you. (Please read a handbook titled " A Guide To Peace Officer Employers" promulgated by the DCJS for more detailed information. )

We need to encourage those among us that have not yet completed the training to complete their certification. The training we get from the academy is worth in excess of $2000.00 if you had to obtain it privately. Learning to handle a firearm is a valuable skill. We work around firearm's everyday and we never know if we will be called upon to handle or safeguard a weapon. I understand that many of you that have not gone for training might say that you don't want a firearm. I am not suggesting that you get one, if you prefer not to. Once you complete the training you have 3 options:

1. Purchase a firearm and qualify annually in order to maintain your carry status.
2. Don't purchase a firearm and use a loaner/range weapon to qualify annually in order to maintain your carry status.
3. Don't purchase a firearm and do not qualify annually and have "No Gun" stamped on your ID card.

No matter which option you choose you will have met the requirements for certification by DCJS.

Why is this important? Our peace officer status is at least part of the reason we are classified JG-21 and not JG-18 like our upstate counterparts. At a time when we are fighting for reclassification and the union is asking the legislature for "Police Status" does it serve our cause to have so many in our ranks that are not firearm's trained? We need to do this for our own security and the future viability of our title. JM

Tooting Our Own Horn

It always seems easier to point out those we think do their job poorly, while at the same time failing to recognize those that do their job exceptionally well. Through this forum, I hope that we can single out those that seem to be getting it right. Case in point, David Sullivan, Associate Court Clerk at New York County Family Court. He is extremely knowledgeable, as one might expect from a clerk with his tenure. If you come to him with a question he will stop whatever he is doing, give you his undivided attention and stay with you until your issue is resolved. As a new clerk in Family Court I can't tell you how invaluable his assistance was at times. Even if you just needed help finding a missing file (which almost never happens lol) he would stop what he was doing and help you look. I think about that experience every time I meet a new clerk and am called upon for some assistance. Thanks Dave, we could use a few more like you. JM

Memorial Day Message

FREEDOM WAS NEVER FREE

Bilingual Pay Differential

Just recently one of our members brought to my attention that in CA and AZ clerks are paid some sort of differential for their bilingual skills. As a former interpreter I have often wondered why such an important skill ceased to have value (to OCA) once I became a clerk. In the courtroom we always have an interpreter available. However, at many information desks and front counters it is a bilingual clerk that is called upon to assist these court users. What do you think? How many of you are using this skill on a regular basis. Should this be the basis for some sort of pay differential? Is it fair to those members that do not speak a second language? JM

Introduction

While going through the process of campaigning for the upcoming Director/Delegate elections I came to understand how difficult it is for us to communicate with other members. I have decided to start this forum in the hope that it will beome a means for us exchanging ideas and discussing issues that are important to us as court clerks. I hope that we can make something of this. JM