The Brownwood Police Department posted the following on its Facebook page, as well as the City of Brownwood website, regarding the upcoming Citizens Police Academy:
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a police officer on patrol? Ever asked yourself, “Why did that police officer do that?” Perhaps a news story made you question the actions of the police, or the events that followed. Maybe you have had an interest in law enforcement and want to get a “behind-the-badge” view of what the police do. If any of these apply to you, then the Citizens Police Academy is for you.
Citizens will get to see and experience what the job is like “behind the curtain” for our city police officers during the 10-week program. Applications can be found on our city website and will be accepted through March 11th or until the class is full.
The Brownwood Police Department is committed to being an open and transparent Police Department. We strive to be good partners with our community. With those thoughts in mind, we would like to take this opportunity to announce that the Brownwood Police Department hosts an annual Citizen’s Police Academy (CPA).
The classes will run for ten (10) Tuesday nights from 6:00 – 8:30pm and one Saturday. The Saturday class is about three or four hours and we conduct that class at the shooting range. Participants will have a blast at the range!
We have a Citizen’s Police Academy for many reasons. One of the primary reasons is transparency. We want you (our community) to know how your police department is run and how your tax dollars are spent. We open up our doors to the students and there are no unanswered questions; no secrets. We want the students to learn police techniques and on a more basic front, find out why police officers do the things they do. We also want the students to see and use police equipment. For instance, we will have you using a radar gun, watching a Taser demonstration, and shooting a variety of firearms, just to name a few. We also want the students to ride on patrol with our officers. We want the students to experience what our officer’s experience on a regular duty shift in Brownwood, Texas. Students will probably see Brownwood as they have never seen it before.
Our tentative schedule for the 2022 class follows. It may change as we make adjustments for instructors (Class is 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm). Class will be held at the Brownwood Fire Department Training Room located at 600 E Adams Street.
Week 1: Introduction, overview, and welcome
Week 2: Patrol and Traffic Enforcement
Week 3: Criminal Investigations and Narcotics
Week 4: Communications/911 and Mental Health
Week 5: School Resource Officer and Juvenile Investigations
Week 6: Criminal Prosecution (District Attorney) and Domestic Violence
Week 7: Training and Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events
Week 8: Fire Marshal Duties and Animal Control
Week 9: DWI and Accident Investigations
Week 10: Graduation
(We don’t schedule our Saturday at the range until we see a good weather weekend, usually around week 6)
After the Patrol ride outs start, we begin each class with students talking about their experiences during their ride along with BPD officers. We try to use as many different officers teaching classes as possible. We also have several “guest” instructors from different areas such as prosecutors, and social agencies that we work with.
We encourage all of our residents to consider attending the Citizen’s Police Academy. We promise it will be an experience you will remember and appreciate for a long time. Members of the media are certainly welcome to attend.
We ask that interested citizens fill out an application. Applications can be turned at the Brownwood Police Department, 1050 West Commerce or by contacting Lieutenant Troy Carroll at (325) 646-2525 ([email protected]) for more information.
.