Police To Offer Tenth Citizen Police Academy

By Andrew Gorosko

Town police will again offer the Citizen Police Academy for the general public, intended as an explanatory course on local law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

It will be the tenth time that the police department has conducted the informational program. It is intended for Newtown residents and local business people.

Police Patrol Sergeant Christopher Vanghele is the coordinator for the free program, which will hold ten weekly sessions for participants.

“Through classroom and hands-on training, the students will learn what it is like to be a police officer,” according to Sgt Vanghele.

The academy will start on Tuesday, March 29, and will meet on Tuesday evenings through May 31. The last session is a graduation ceremony. Each session will run from 6 to 9 pm, including a 20-minute refreshment break. The initial session is slated for the police department at 3 Main Street. Following sessions will be held at the Booth Library meeting room, 25 Main Street.

Subject matter includes a tour of the police station and the town’s emergency dispatching center; information on how people become police; the nature of police patrol work; crime prevention strategies; a field trip to the state police’s crime laboratory; a demonstration of police dog activities; information about crime scene evidence collection and fingerprints; firearms and police weaponry; and a field trip to a state firing range.

The academy also will provide information on the law as it applies to people under age 16 and to the schools. Domestic violence law also will be discussed.

The Citizen Police Academy course covers much of the same information that is taught to police recruits, albeit designed for a civilian audience.

Academy participants may spend four hours with a police patrol officer while on duty in a “ride-along” component of the academy, according to Sgt Vanghele. Academy participants would not be placed in any danger during such observational rides, he said.

Most of the classes are taught by Newtown police officers, with some sessions provided by others.

Sgt Vanghele said the academy is open to people who are at least age 18. The program has space for 25 participants. Newtown residents and local business people who have not attended a previous Citizen Police Academy will be given attendance preference.

Participants are required to complete an application for academy participation, which will then reviewed by police. Applicants will be subject to a criminal history record verification prior to course acceptance.

Applications are available at the police station, as well as online at www.newtown-ct.gov.

Completed applications may be hand-delivered, mailed, or faxed to the police department.

Police will contact successful applicants approximately one week after receiving their application to confirm their course participation.

“Each prospective student must be able to attend at least seven of the classes in order to graduate and receive a certificate of completion,” according to Sgt Vanghele.

People with questions about the program may contact Sgt Vanghele at the police station, telephone 426-5841, fax 270-0637. The e-mail address is newtown.police@snet.net.