Besides Ms. Penland, organization founder Dan Keaton and wife, Norma Frink, are in the academy. Mr. Keaton has learned a lot. I just didn't know all the constraints they had to work under with a limited budget and a very small staff,'' he said. The smaller details stuck in the mind of Mrs. Frink. Her favorite class has been forensics, where detectives told her they cannot use rubber gloves at a crime scene because the material is too thin and may leave fingerprints that contaminate evidence.
Officers use cotton gloves.
Randy Wolcott, a local landscaper, has worked with the sheriff's office as a trustee with Hitchcock Foundation, which oversees Hitchcock Woods, a 2,000-acre urban forest in Aiken. The class has inspired Mr. Wolcott to consider creating a Crime Watch program in downtown Aiken, where he lives. Mr. Wolcott said. Michael Frank said he has people on a waiting list for the second Citizen Academy, but the dates for the next class have not been finalized. All participants of the class must meet certain requirements.