Openings Remain For Citizen Police Academy

By Andrew Gorosko

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

It will be the ninth time the police department has held the informational program, which was first offered in Newtown in the early 1990s. The program is intended for Newtown residents and local business people.

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

“Through classroom and hands-on training, the students will learn what it is like to be a police officer,” says Sgt Vanghele, who said this week that several openings remain for Citizen Police Academy.

The academy will start on Thursday, March 25, and will meet on Thursday evenings through May 27. The last session is a graduation ceremony that will be held at Booth Library.

Each session will run from 6 to 9 pm, including a 20-minute refreshment break. The initial session will be conducted at the police department headquarters, 3 Main Street. Following sessions will be held at the town senior center, in the multipurpose building on Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.

Course subject matter includes a general introduction to law enforcement, similar to the courses that are taught to police officer trainees at the state’s municipal police academy.

The course will include a tour of the police station, a talk on the history of policing, and an explanation of the town’s dispatch/Emergency 911 center in the police station. A field trip to the state forensics laboratory in Meriden is also planned. 

Course content will include domestic violence laws, juvenile law, school law, evidence gathering and interpretation, crime scene investigations, criminal investigations, criminal law, drunken driving law, motor vehicle law, crime prevention, police patrol work, and a description of how people become police officers.

Sgt Vanghele said each academy participant will have an opportunity to be a citizen observer in a police patrol car for a four-hour period during a routine patrol shift. Observers will not be placed in any dangerous situations.

Most Citizen Police Academy courses are taught by local police officers, augmented with talks by guest speakers.

Participants are required to complete an application for academy participation, which will then be reviewed by police. Applicants will be subject to a criminal history record verification prior to course acceptance. Applications are available at the police station. 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 the sergeant at the police station; call 426-5841.