Citizens Police Academy seeks applicants

Talk about it

After a long absence, the Dickinson Police Dept. will once again host a Citizens Police Academy.

The nine-week course educates citizens about what police do, Capt. Dave Wilkie said.

“A lot of the stuff is going to be hands-on, interactive kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s not going to be sit and watch movies or sit and listen to people lecture.”

The course, which is almost exclusively taught by officers, will feature 18 topics in two hour sessions on Tuesday nights starting Tuesday.

“By the time you’re done with this course — we’ve got a nine-week course — you will have met … 19 officers out of our department,” Wilkie said.

City Commissioner Carson Steiner took the course a few years ago, and highly recommends any interested party apply.

“Each night was something different,” he said. “They kept it interesting each night of every week.”

The crime scene investigation and the ride along were the most memorable parts of the course for Steiner.

“One was the drive-around that we did,” he said. “The second one was reviewing a murder and a crime scene that happened and how they solved it.”

There are usually one or two community leaders, like Steiner, in each class, Wilkie said.

DPD hosts a similar class for teens in the spring, he said.

The class is free and open to all adults, but space is limited. Applications are available at dickinsonpd.com.

Tags: lifestyle, police, dickinson, local