Page 10 - Florida Sentinel 10-5-18

Local
Tampa Police Host Events During ‘National Crime Prevention Month’
Fatherhood Hall Of Fame Inductee
The Month of October is National Crime Prevention Month and in keeping with tradition, the Tampa Police Department has scheduled several events to draw atten- tion to the observance.
Some of the events are as follows:
Basic Police Recruit Scholarship Program
The department is cur- rently accepting applications from men and women who are interested in pursuing a career as sworn law enforce- ment with Tampa Police.
This is a great opportunity for individuals who need fi- nancial assistance with going through the Basic Recruit Training needed to obtain a State of Florida Law Enforce- ment certification.
Selected applicants will re- ceive a full scholarship for this training, in addition to earn- ing $19.50/hr while they are in school. The starting rate for a Tampa Police officer is
currently $55,140. In addi- tion to earning a competitive salary and benefits, it’s also an opportunity to make a differ- ence in public safety and the community from within the agency. The deadline to apply is October 14. Neighborhood Night
Out Event Series
The Tampa Police Depart- ment is hosting several parties for crime prevention and it’s all part of National Crime Pre- vention month in October.
The police department will roll out its new ‘Neighbor- hood Night Out’ event series.
The goal is to promote safer neighborhoods through in- creased resident participation and stronger police-commu- nity relationships.
The department is also planning several Neighbor- hood Night Out events. The events will run from Oct 2-Oct 25. This is the first year the department is sponsoring these events. The dates are as
follows:
October 17 --- Cyrus Green
Community Center
October 18 --- Oak Park
Community Center
October 23 --- Benito Play-
ground Activity Center October 24 --- Copeland
Park Community Center October 25 --- Henry and
Ola Park
The Neighborhood Night
Out festivities will include free food, giveaways and enter- tainment, along with a variety of activities and police re- source demonstrations. The Tampa Bay Rays mascots and Tampa Bay Rowdies Street Team are scheduled to make special appearances at spe- cific events.
Adults participating in the Neighborhood Night Out will also have an opportunity to win a free ring doorbell with proof of city residency.
All Neighborhood Night Out events are open to the public.
On September 21, 2018 at the Reach Up Fatherhood Confer- ence, Rechi Butler was inducted into the Fatherhood Hall of Fame.
Rechi is founder of the Get It Straight Foundation, and owner of Irene & Joe’s Tree and Lawncare Service.
National
Americans Received Cell Phone Alert From Trump In First National Test
It's the alert that – if it's real – you won't want to get again. For the first time ever on Wednes- day, Americans nationwidere- ceived an alert on their cell phones from President Trump. The test, scheduled for 2:18 p.m. ET, was the first test of a national presidential alert system that will let any president issue a warning about a crisis. That could include a mis- sile launched by another country at the U.S. or a tsunami.
First on "CBS This Morning," we got an inside look at the new system with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of- ficials ahead of the test.
"When those messages appear on mobile devices, people should take those extremely seriously," FEMA's Antwane Johnson told CBS News correspondent Anna Werner. "It has some di- rect impact on either life or safety."
Johnson directs the agency's
public alert warning system that sent out the nationwide test of the presidential alert on Wednes- day.
"If we have something that's of national significance, we can rap- idly notify the American public of that event," Johnson said.
Government agencies nation- wide have issued more than 40,000 emergency alerts to cell phones since 2012. But those amber and weather alerts target specific regions. This new presi- dential alert will be nationwide and only used for advance warn- ing of national crises.
"It should be reserved for true situations, true emergencies when we need to get the public's attention," former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh John- son said, adding it is designed to be used very specifically – and rarely.
"This is something that should not be used for a political agenda," Jeh Johnson said. That's especially important be- cause no one can opt out of these alerts, he said.
"Now you know you say pres- idential alert and some people are thinking, 'Aw man, I see President Trump sending out Twitter messages all day long. Does this mean I'm going to get whatever message President Trump wants to send out through this alert system now?'" Werner said.
"No, not at all. One thing that we need make very clear is that there are laws, policies and pro- cedures that are in place, other protocols to assure that the sys- tem is used in accordance with its intended use as defined by the law," Antwane Johnson re- sponded.
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