Brownwood Chief of Police Mike Corley announced Thursday that the police department is taking applications for their next Citizen’s Police Academy (CPA). This will be the second CPA offered since Corley took office in 2010. According to Corley, the CPA class earlier this year was a great success and BPD is hoping to make the next one even better.
Chief Corley stated the importance and reasoning behind holding a Citizen’s Police Academy.
“We have a Citizen’s Police Academy for many reasons. One of the primary reasons is transparency. We want you (the public) to know how your police department is run and how your tax dollars are spent. We open up our doors to the students. There are no unanswered questions and there are no secrets,” said Corley. “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 want the students to use police equipment. For instance, we will have you dusting for fingerprints, using a radar gun, watching a taser demo, and shooting a variety of firearms, just to name a few. We also want the students to ride patrol with our officers. We want the students to experience what our officers experience on a regular duty shift in Brownwood, Texas. Students will probably see Brownwood as they have never seen it before.”
The following tentative schedule was offered to give those interested an idea of the course matter and schedule. All classes will be from 6:30pm-9:00pm.
Week 1 Introductions, tour of the facility, and Chief’s Philosophy (Chief Corley)
Week 2 Patrol & Uniform Operations
Week 3 Investigations
Week 4 Traffic Enforcement/Accident Investigation/DWI & Public Intoxication
Week 5 Dispatch/911/Tour of the County Jail
Week 6 Family Violence/Officer Safety/Use of Force
Week 7 Student Resource Officer/Crime Prevention/Mental Health Issues
Week 8 Municipal Court/Drugs/Drug Investigations
Week 9 Internal Affairs & Ethics (Chief Corley)
Week 10 Graduation
CPA students will experience ride-alongs with officers and share with each other their experiences during these ride-alongs with BPD officers. BPD tries to use as many different officers teaching classes as possible Corley said. Several “guest” instructors from different areas such as prosecutors, and social agencies that law enforcement works with will also be present during the CPA classes.
“I encourage all of our citizens to consider attending the Citizen’s Police Academy. I promise it will be an experience you will remember and appreciate for a long time,” said Chief Corley.
Those interested in participating must fill out an application which can be picked up at the Brownwood Police Department, 1050 W. Commerce, or by contacting Officer Chandra Means at 325-646-2525 for more information.
