April 12, 2013

Members of the public will be able to do some police work of their own this summer.

The Columbia Police Department is now accepting applications for its Citizens’ Police Academy, which will teach its members how the department operates.

According to a post on CPD’s Facebook page, citizens will learn about the department’s mission, units, equipment and training. Citizens will also be able to interact with various CPD officers.

“You will observe some demonstrations and presentations from our different units and specialized units such as K-9, Mounted Unit, Traffic Unit and SWAT,” CPD spokesman Joe Bernhard wrote on the department’s Facebook page.

Participants may also engage in simulated police activities which they will face the same decisions real officers often encounter in the field.

Freshman Jayme Becker said he suggests applying for a position. Becker has been a member of the Chesterfield Police Explorers for three years. The program, which is based out of Becker’s hometown, is similar to CPD’s Citizens’ Police Academy. Both programs put an emphasis on showing the public what happens behind the scenes for police officers.

Becker attended Colorado State University this past summer for the National Law Enforcement Exploring Conference. His post ranked second nationally in the “shoot-don’t-shoot” competition.

“When they announced the results I felt like everything I had worked for finally paid off,” Becker said. “It was like I was part of something bigger than just Chesterfield.”

This summer’s classes will be held from 6-9 p.m. on June 18 and 25 and July 2, 9, 16 and 23.

The application can be found on the CPD’s website and requires personal data such as date of birth and address. The application also asks if the applicant has ever been arrested and requires references and a short answer question. There is space available to list Columbia police officers you know.

Chief Ken Burton will decide the class selection.

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