Roanoke City Council report: Roanoke PD’s Explorer Academy returns; council bemoans lack of cleanup participation; and return overdue library books this week for free

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Roanoke Police chief Tino Brooks announced at Monday’s meeting of the Roanoke City Council that the PD’s popular Explorer Academy summer youth program will return this year. The program had been suspended for what former city officials cited as a lack of police personnel to conduct the program.

But Brooks, with encouragement from the community and the city council, made it a priority to bring the program back, and he has new additions that he plans to include in it.

The program is designed to give middle school aged students an inside glimpse at how law enforcement operates. It will also include elements of physical fitness, non-law-enforcement-related life skills (such as how to change a tire or check a vehicle’s oil level) and plenty of fun activities like fishing and bicycle riding.

The program will run from June 8 to July 24 and is open to the first 10 students in grades 4-8 who apply to attend.

(For more information call the Roanoke PD non-emergency number at 334-863-2121 or email [email protected].)

Trash pickup

The city’s annual clean-up day, which was held this past Saturday, was not well-attended, a fact that all five members of the Roanoke City Council addressed at Monday’s meeting.

One point that proved to be a theme through the comments of each council member was that trash was such a big talking point during the run-up to last year’s election, but when given an opportunity to do something about it, very few people actually showed up.

Council members also encouraged residents to focus their efforts on their immediate area.

“If everyone would just get out and pick up their street, it would make a big difference,” said council member Tammi Holley. That challenge was echoed by several other council members as well.

More PD items

• Gun safety class – At the request of some members of the community chief Brooks is working on a gun safety class for citizens that would include supervised time at the police departments shooting range. Brooks said many local gun owners have told them they have little to no knowledge about how to safely operate their weapon. The class would include information about state gun laws, how to safely store your gun and ammunition and how to safely fire the gun as well. Brooks pointed out that attendees would need to have their own gun and ammunition in order to participate. More details will be announced once the class is finalized.

 

• Seatbelt crackdown – Brooks said the police department has also received funds for traffic overtime hours for Roanoke police officers. Those hours will be applied for a future DUI checkpoint and enforcement and also for the upcoming Click It or Ticket seatbelt enforcement efforts. Brooks also pointed out that he has been told and has noticed himself that Roanoke Police officers often do not wear seatbelts while they are driving in their patrol vehicles. He noted the perceived hypocrisy of that practice, particularly in light of the upcoming Click It or Ticket efforts. “We’re going to deal with that,” Brooks said.

No-fine returns at Roanoke library

Annie L. Awbrey Library director Margaret Calhoun told the council Monday that this week is National Library Week, and in honor of that the library will not charge fines for late returned items all this week. Calhoun encouraged anyone to find those old library books, no matter how long you may have had them or what condition they are in, and bring them back this week to avoid any fees.