In
1998 the Mansfield Police Department's first citizen's
academy graduated. The curriculum and teaching methods are similar
to the traditional police academy, but these students are not police
candidates. The class members include a wide cross section of the
community's population, i.e., homemakers, professional
businesspersons, retirees, and neighborhood watch members.
The first Police Night School
was held in England in 1977 by the Devon Cromwall Constabulary and
met with immediate success. Citizens were anxious to learn of the
operations of their police force, which heretofore were obscure and
private. Shortly afterward, the Orlando, Florida Police Department
conducted the first Citizen Police Academy in the United States. The
Orlando Academy was patterned after the English Police Night School.
Since that time, other law enforcement agencies throughout the
United States have developed and conducted versions of the Citizen
Police Academy.
Graduates
of the Mansfield Police Citizen's Academy WILL NOT be commissioned
law enforcement officers vigilantes. They will be more familiar with
the operations of the Mansfield Police Department and will gain a
deeper understanding of the problems and policies the officers face
daily.
The 42-hour training program
consists of classroom and hands on instruction to provide the public
with a working knowledge of the Mansfield Police Department.
Participants will meet for three (3) hours once a week during a
14-week course. Instructions will be comprehensive, and each week a
different area of the police department will be covered, with each
session facilitated by one or more Mansfield Police Officers who are
state certified instructors, or experts in a particular field.
Topics covered will include:
1. Orientation
2. Traffic Laws and Seven Step Violator Contact
3. Student Participation in Mock Low Risk and High Risk
Traffic Stops
4. Accident Investigation
5. Report Writing
6. DWI/DUI Investigation
7. Family Violence
8. Student Participation in Mock Family Violence
Disturbances
9. Texas State Penal Code
10. Jail Operations
11. Building Searches (with and without K-9)
12. Student Participation in Mock Building Searches
13. Crime Scene Investigation
14. Use of Force
15. Communications/Dispatch Operations
16. Civil Law
17. Tactical Police Driving
The
purpose behind the CPA is to build a better understanding of the
police department's functions. The academy classes fill up quickly
upon the starting of a new class. A vast amount of time has been put
into the CPA course and all of the classes are taught by police
officers themselves. The officers teaching the course are all
certified instructors by the State of Texas.
Upon successful graduation
from the course the CPA members are given an opportunity to join the
CPA Alumni Association.
The Alumni Association is a volunteer organization of the police
department who are responsible for providing support services to the
officers as well as dispatch. For more information about the CPA
Alumni Association e-mail
here.
The
next Mansfield Citizen's Police Academy (13th) will start in
February 2007. To participate in the 13th Citizen's Police Academy
an application must be completed and turned in to the Mansfield
Police Department. All applicants must be 18 years of age or older
and be able to attend at least 11 out of fourteen classes.
All courses are held on
Thursday nights, from 6:15 p.m. until 9:15 p.m. for fourteen weeks
at the Mansfield Police Department; 1601 Heritage Parkway. CPA
members are given the opportunity to ride with officers only after
they have successfully graduated from the program.
For details on the next CPA
Class contact the Community Resource Division at (817)276-4758.
