Saturday, October 22, 2011 4:30 pm

Cannon County constables recently joined constables from Warren, DeKalb, Coffee and Grundy in a regional 40 hour in-service training program.

The training was hosted by the Warren County Emergency Management Agency and sponsored by the Warren County Constable Association. Instructors were provided by the Coffee County Sheriff, Warren County Sheriff, and other agencies.

The constables were welcomed by Warren County Sheriff Jackie Matheny who expressed his appreciation for the constables and the value they represent to their communities.

Topics covered included criminal law, gangs and drug enforcement. Warren County
Deputy Sheriff Bobby Pennington gave a multi day course on the Homeland Security course Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT). The constables were also certified in life saving Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).

Jim Gibbs, who is already an instructor for both CERT and CPR, has optioned to attend a course in Computer Forensics being taught by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Howard Patterson, and will follow with a course in Forensic Photography, both are through MTSU. Gibbs is already certified and has previous experience as a police crime scene photographer.

Constables Tom Ganoe, Kevin Duncan, Forrest Pitcock and Jim Gibbs also participated in a handgun qualification program instructed by Peace Office Standards of Training Instructor Coffee County Deputy Sheriff Mike Jarvis and had live fire qualification at the Tennessee Correctional Training Center in Tullahoma.

The constables would like to also remind citizens in need of emergency police service to call 911 -- not your district constable. The 911 Center will dispatch the appropriate officer from either the sheriff or police department depending upon jurisdiction.