JACKSONVILLE, Texas (KETK) — The Jacksonville Police Department has announced that it will be hosting their annual Citizen’s Police Academy this fall.
The program aims at informing the public of the day-to-day activities of the police department, as well as helping the department to be more aware of the concerns of the citizens they serve. The academy will begin on Sep. 8.
According to the city of Jacksonville, the Citizen Police Academy is a “30-hour block of instruction designed to give the public a working knowledge of the Jacksonville Police Department’s personnel and policies.”
The program spans 12 weeks of classes, which are held every Tuesday night for three hours and covers different areas of the department each week. Officers, supervisors and personnel assigned to these departments conduct each instructional block.
The topics covered in the academy include:
- Communications
- Crime prevention
- Crime scenes
- Domestic violence
- DWI procedures
- Investigations
- Juvenile law
- Officer safety issues
- Texas Penal Code and Texas Code of Criminal Procedure
- Training
Anyone can attend the program so long as they are either a resident of Jacksonville or work in the city and are a minimum of 21-years-old.
The academy is designed to provide enough information to the citizens in attendance so that they are capable of making informed judgements about the police department and their activity. The department further hopes that “the instruction will dispel suspicions and misconceptions and increase police/community rapport through this educative process.”
On the other hand, the department also hopes to become more aware of the needs and concerns of the community based on the participants’ interaction and input, making it what they call “a two-way learning experience.”
If you would like to join the Jacksonville Citizen’s Police Academy, you can fill out an application here. To speak with an officer about the academy, call 903-586-8336.
