The 2010 winter/spring session of the High Point Police Department Citizen’s Police Academy is scheduled to begin Jan. 26 and conclude May 4 with a graduation ceremony.
The academy is open to the public with some minor conditions and is designed to give residents the opportunity to learn about the department and interact with officers.
“It gives you a better understanding of the what the role of the police department is within the community,” said Paul Brandsema, chairman of the Citizen’s Academy Alumni Association. “A lot of people see police officers from kind of a one-sided point of view. Their jobs are actually really involved with working with the community.”
Brandsema likened the curriculum to a “mini training academy that gives you a taste of what the officers go through.”
The department uses a variety of its personnel to present the curriculum, which takes the form of classroom time and some hands-on exercises.
Some of the early sessions cover topics such as the state and local requirements to become a police officer and the training and screening process for candidates.
Legal and constitutional guidelines officers must follow ‐– such as when deadly force is allowed ‐– are covered in some of the early sessions. Other classroom topics include death investigations.
Past hands-on sessions have included simulated building searches and traffic stops.
The academy will have a limited enrollment of about 30 students, with priority given to the order in which applications are received.
pkimbrough@hpe.com 888-3531
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