Sheriff’s Office announces citizen’s police academy

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a law enforcement officer? Do you want to get a first-hand look at the inner workings of the sheriff’s office or know what it’s like to wear a badge?

The Ohio County Sheriff’s Office is offering citizens an opportunity to do just that through its Citizen’s Police Academy.

“We’re excited. This is the first time in the history of the sheriff’s department that anything has ever been done like this,” said Sheriff Adam Wright. “It will give (participants) a look at the daily operations of the sheriff’s office.”

The four-week program, that begins Oct. 26, will take citizens behind the scenes of the agency by giving them an inside look at traffic stops, crime scene preservation, evidence collection, narcotics investigations, dispatch operations, defensive tactics, firearm safety, an overview of the justice system and more.

Classes will be held from 6-8 p.m. every Thursday night.

Wright said their goal is to have 30 participants take part in the academy.

“They will be able to see the things we deal with first-hand,” Wright said. “There will be mock traffic stops with different scenarios where they will walk up to a car not knowing what might happen – trying to give them that feeling of what we feel during a traffic stop.”

At the end of the academy, participants will also be given the opportunity to go on a ride-along with a deputy, Wright said, and “get a front-row seat” on deputies’ calls.

The idea of a citizen’s police academy is nothing new as law enforcement agencies across the country have been holding them for years. Wright said his department is collaborating with other states as far away as California and Texas to get information on some of their programs and what has been successful for them.

Wright hopes citizens will gain an appreciation of the problems and challenges facing law enforcement.

“A lot of times, people see our cars and they don’t know what or why we are doing what we are doing,” Wright said as the thought process behind hosting the academy. “This is our chance to show people how we operate.”

If the academy is successful, the sheriff said it might be something that will be held as often as quarterly and he hopes that it will spark interest in other programs like a community watch program.