CRESTVIEW — To the main printer’s steady click-clack, Joyce Heath cranks out a new supply of forms, handouts and informational bulletins for Crestview Police officers, replenishing the supply of materials in the officers’ day room.
There are forms for almost every situation a police officer encounters: abandoned vehicles, resident deaths, missing children, Baker Act cases, DUIs, case tracking, property receipts, radar logs, false alarms and personnel matters such as leave requests and time sheets.
Heath, a member of the Crestview Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association, spends at least one morning a week checking supplies of more than two dozen assorted printed materials officers use in their daily patrols, and reprinting those running low.
“I like to give back to my community,” Heath said. “I’ve always been involved in volunteer work.”
Heath’s other community efforts have included serving as a reading tutor at Walker Elementary School, a Girl Scouts leader and being a substitute teacher in multiple grade levels.
When Crestview Police Community Services Officers Wanda Hulion and Sam Kimmons organized the Citizens Police Academy in 2014, Joyce Heath and her husband, Obie, were in its first class.
“We really enjoyed it,” Heath said. “We learned a lot about what our police officers do on a daily basis.”
The academy’s alumni association lets graduates continue their interest in the city’s law enforcement agency through volunteer efforts including fundraising for a fallen officers memorial, training academy graduates as school crossing guards, and supporting police initiatives such as the department K-9 program’s reconstitution.
“They do a lot for the police department,” patrol Cpl. David Stanley said. “We appreciate those folks.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Citizens Police Academy alumna adds clerical support