The Jonesboro Police Department is hosting a Citizen Police Academy this fall. The academy gives citizens an opportunity to see what the police department does and why. Media Specialist with the Jonesboro Police Department Paul Holmes tells how this started.
“After police chief Rick Elliott took the reins here, he felt that this would be a valuable way to have a community outreach program that be interactive,” said Holmes. “We could learn from the citizens and they could learn from police department to gain a better understanding of each other’s views.”
The 12-week session will go over many topics, including criminal investigations, patrol operations, traffic stops, crime prevention and more. He says what Jonesboro is doing is something that an increasing number of police departments across the nation are doing.
“This is one the things that we want to do because we know there is a great deal of interest in how the police do the things they do and why they do them. We feel this is a wonderful opportunity for an exchange of ideas and knowledge and interaction between the community and the police officers.”
He says the police officers have been able to take information they are learning from the community and inform other officers to help foster better communication.
“That is one of our objectives is for our officers to learn from the citizens what is on their minds and what their concerns are, and understand their attitudes and take that information back and let their peers know what is on the citizens minds and how we can better serve the citizens.”
The classes start on Thursday, September third and will be held every Thursday for three hours. Earlier this year, over 30 people attended the academy. Applications are being taken now for this session, which should end before Thanksgiving.
