National Peace Officers' Memorial Day-Tisha Carter-Smith

I once asked a police officer to handcuff me in front of my students.

It sounds extreme, but the Sergeant I was speaking with didn’t miss a beat. At the time, I was teaching HS Government to ELL students from all over the world. We wanted to make a "Know Your Rights" lesson unforgettable. The look of pure shock on my students' faces was the ultimate "attention grabber," but the conversation Tony led afterward was what truly mattered.

Today, on National Peace Officers Memorial Day, I’m thinking of Sergeant who passed away 10 years ago. He was a dedicated SRO who understood that building trust starts in the classroom.

It was a full-circle moment for me, working for the City, to see a prestigious award named in his honor at the Police Academy. He was exactly the kind of officer we should strive to emulate: professional, kind, and deeply connected to the people he served. #dmpd #publicservice #publicservant #peaceofficer #NationalPeaceOfficersMemorialDay #NationalPoliceWeek #Education #EdChat #CommunityPolicing #DesMoines #Iowa