Published: October 23, 2009 08:28 am      

Joshua launches citizen police academy

Joshua residents have a chance to learn more about their police department and become active in the safety of the city with the city’s first Citizens Police Academy, which begins Jan. 12.

The 10 week course instructs students in personnel and operations of a police department and offers face-to-face time with each of the city’s 14 officers with the goal of building “trust and rapport between the citizens of our community and their police department,” according to a press release.

Joshua Capt. Leland Cheek said the idea came from Chief Annabeth Robertson, and he believes it’s important to help residents understand how police departments operate and why they do what they do.

“We’re going to teach them and go over the penal code, community policing, evidence procedures, special crimes, use of force, sex offender registration,” Cheek said. “We’re going to go through basically everything we do to give them a better understanding of what’s going on.”

The courses will also cover recruiting and hiring, criminal investigations, building searches, traffic enforcement and information about the special response team, with different topics each week.

A ceremony will be held for graduates, who will receive a certificate and T-shirt, after the last classroom session on March 9. Cheek said the details on the ceremony are being worked out.

Once class ends, the action begins as the new citizen police go out to aid the police.

“It would be nothing that would cause them any harm because we’re not going to put them in harm’s way,” Cheek said. “We’re going to be utilizing them in the booth that we have in different locations and events around the year and they’re also going to have them do traffic control.”

Class size is limited to 20, and participants must be at least 18 years old, live or work in Joshua, and consent to a criminal history check.

Applications must be filled out and returned before Dec. 31.

Applications can be downloaded at cityofjoshuatx.com or obtained at the police department from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For information, contact Cheek at 817-558-3194.