OK, maybe a night in the company of area police isn’t what most people have in mind for Valentine’s Day. However, the holiday falling on Monday night — the same night reserved for the Johnson County Citizen’s Police Academy — didn’t prevent the class’s participants from turning out.

Rather than a candlelight dinner at a fancy restaurant, participants were treated to a presentation on TASERs and an appearance from K-9 officers from area police departments and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

Having already celebrated Valentine’s Day over the weekend, North Liberty couple Kenny and Suzanne Kennedy said they didn’t mind coming out to the Joint Emergency Communication Center for class.

The Kennedys said they are taking the class to learn more about what their son — a Coralville police officer — does for a living.

“He suggested we come,” Suzanne Kennedy said. “Shawn wanted us to know what he deals with all the time.”

Only a few weeks into the course, the Kennedys said their eyes have been opened. Topics so far have covered officer selection and training, use of force and defensive tactics, drunken driving enforcement and accident reconstruction.

Kenny Kennedy said the course has given him a new appreciation for his son’s chosen profession.

“It’d be helpful if people would help the police,” he said, “not criticize them.”

That connection from police officer to everyday citizen is exactly what organizers of the Citizen’s Police Academy say they’re going for. And now, after 15 years, the academy is reaching more people than ever.

Iowa City Crime Prevention Officer Jorey Bailey said this year the class has 44 participants, easily a record.

“I don’t think we’ve had anything over 25 (in the past),” he said.

Bailey said academy organizers — officers from the Iowa City, Coralville and University of Iowa police departments and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Officers — started recruiting participants earlier for this year’s class. Bailey said he would leave information at events he attends and businesses he visits.

The work paid off with nearly 50 men and women ranging in age from teenagers to senior citizens participating.

“They want to have a better understanding of what local law enforcement do,” Bailey said.

For Coralville K-9 officer Chad Bender, coming out to the academy is a bit like getting back to his roots. Before he ever thought about becoming a police officer, Bender was a member of the inaugural Citizen’s Police Academy.

“I thought it would be kind of cool to get the inside scoop,” he said.

As part of the class, Bender went on a ride-along with a local officer, and that’s “when the bug hit,” he said.

Coming back to the class 15 years later, Bender said he’s pleased to see so many people wanting to learn about what he does for a living.

“It’s cool to see that many people interested in what we do,” he said.

The annual Youth Police Academy for the 2011 season has been suspended and officials are blaming the economy.

Hosted by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department and with assistance from other area law enforcement agencies and Jefferson Davis Community College, the program is falling victim to tight budgets and a poor economy.

“For economic reasons we believe it is best to cancel the Youth Police Academy this year,” Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith said. “Every department that helps with this project is working under tight budget constraints. Due to the economic situation throughout the area in businesses and in various departments and agencies, we believe this is the right thing to do.”

The Youth Police Academy depends on donations to make the weeklong event possible. Due to the decline in the economy, obtaining the funds has become increasingly difficult, Smith said.

“We have to pinch every penny that we can,” Smith said. “Although we don’t write a check for the event it still costs money to be a part of the program. With fuel costs, the cost of personnel and other expenses, making time and personnel available for the program is a costly endeavor. We are already short-handed and we must cut where we can.”

Although the program will be suspended for the 2011 year, Smith said it is hoped the program will be held for youth in the area for 2012.

“We certainly hope to get the program back up and running next year,” Smith said. “We hope that by taking this year off that everyone involved will have an opportunity to reorganize and revamp some points of the program to make the Youth Police Academy bigger and better next year.”

In previous years agencies and departments involved in the Youth Police Academy have included the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department, the Brewton Police Department, and Jefferson Davis Community College as main sponsors.

It is co-sponsored by Atmore Police Department, Flomaton Police Department, and East Brewton Police Department. There are many instructors from agencies such as the Alabama State Troopers, the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office, and others that have been involved in the 10-year long tradition.

“We would also like to thank all those who have made contributions in the previous years,” Smiths aid. “We hope to have that support in 2012.”

The academy, which began in June, graduated its first class Wednesday night at the Owen Theatre witnessed by elected officials, fellow police officers, family and friends.

“We are here because these men and women have chosen to dedicate themselves to be public servants,” Conroe Mayor Webb Melder said. “We thank you and ask the Lord to put his hand on you to protect you and bless you.”

The academy’s first class trained in all aspects of law enforcement for 24 weeks at the FBI’s gun range in south Conroe.

“We’re going to teach them the basics and make sure they have the capability of being certified,” Sgt. Bob Berry said. “We stress a lot of hands on training, like in the mechanics of arrests, traffic stops, clearing a building.”

Instructors from all areas within the department gave the trainees instruction in the different aspects of law, including criminal procedure, penal code and health and safety codes.

The cadets also were exposed to physical agility, which included jogging and running.

“We’re trying to get these cadets both mentally and physically prepared to take the job,” Berry said.

The 12 officers include 10 men and one woman who were hired as patrol officers with the CPD when the academy started. An 11th male graduate will become a patrol officer with the South Houston Police Department.

“We have taken your everyday men and women and transferred them into incredible officers,” CPD Chief Philip Dupuis said. “You’re part of many first achievements. At no time has the CPD ever hired 11 officers at once.”

The 11 CPD officers passed their certification exam with 90 percent average on their first try, Dupuis said.

“I’m very proud of this accomplishment,” Dupuis said. “Remember your ethics and be honest and do what is right.”

For 35-year-old Officer Jason Davidson, of Conroe, the police academy offered a second chance at life.

“I started out in sales and was laid off from that job and found myself working for Olive Garden a a server,” Davidson said. “I always wanted to be a police officer and was drawn to it.”

Davidson said he was waiting tables and decided that now was as good a time to become an officer.

“This is something I wanted to do since I was a child,” Davidson said. “I applied (to the academy) and they blessed me with an opportunity and privilege to join.”

The officers, who were presented their badges and had them pinned by family members, will now face nine weeks of field training as they ride along with their training officers.

After the initial probation, the new officers will be released on the streets by themselves, but will be on continued probation for 10 additional months.

Officers also were awarded with class honors for best physical training, weapon training and overall students.

Instructors with the academy also were recognized by the CPD.

Jamie L. Bridges can be reached at jbridges@hcnonline.com.

The Odessa Police Department Police Academy 618-hour Basic Peace Officer training is held at Odessa College. This relationship with Odessa College allows students to accumulate 19 hours of college credit during the academy that could be applied towards an Associate in Applied Science Degree for Criminal Justice. It also allows students access to computer labs, workout facilities and the virtual shooting range.PT Training The training hours are Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m.to 4:45 p.m. Recruits attending the academy are required to complete a minimum of 20 weeks in order to successfully complete the academy. The Odessa Police Department Academy requires attendees to meet the high standards expected for a Texas Law Enforcement Officer. Absenteeism and tardiness will not be tolerated. Physical fitness will be an essential component of training, as will defensive tactics. The Academy operates on the Odessa Police Department calendar and will require discipline and decorum in all settings. The Academy will pair a rigorous academic curriculum with a paramilitary structure and environment to prepare recruits to serve their community as exemplary law enforcement personnel.

RANGE-ARMORY:
Recruit(s) Firearms Instructorand students attending the Odessa Police Academy are required to complete 40 hours of firearm proficiency training. Training will include day and night time qualifications with handguns and shotguns. Students will go through familiarization training with rifles and complete simulation training utilizing the Modular Armored Tactical Combat House (MATCH). All Odessa Police Academy recruits must qualify with either the 9, 40, or 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol prior to graduating. TLCEOSE requires that all Odessa Police Officers re-qualify annually.

APPLICATIONS:
Applications for enrollment to the Odessa Police Department Police Academy are taken from an eligibility list obtained from the hiring process. For detailed information about requirements and the application process, please visit the Employment page of our website.

REQUIREMENTS TO ATTEND THE ODESSA POLICE ACADEMY:
Persons interested in attending the Odessa Police Academy must be employed by a law enforcement agency that is willing to sign the required sponsorship forms. If a person meets the qualifications to attend the Academy and is not sponsored by another agency, the Odessa Police Department will consider sponsorship on a case by case basis. They will not be City employees and no employment is promised or even offered if they graduate. They will be certified and licensed as a basic peace officer and eligible to pursue a career in law enforcement at whatever agency they decide to apply with. For more information about the process and expenses involved, please contact the Training Unit Coordinators:

The three new officers were all part-time reserve officers with the police department prior to their graduation for academy. According to Cullman Police Chief Kenny Culpepper, the addition of the new officers brings the total number of patrol officers within the department to 30, a good number for a city of Cullman’s size.

“It is hard to pinpoint what the ideal number of officers within the department would be,” said Culpepper. “Sometimes things are quiet and you seem to have too many and other times you need ten times the officers you have, it is a constant balancing act.”

Officers Matt Scholsser, Intae Suh, and Clint Sanford completed their 12-week training at the Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy (LEA) on the satellite campus of Jacksonville State University located in Fort McClellan. The three officers have begun working full time with the city police department this weekend, according to Culpepper.

Schlosser said that his interest in law enforcement has been lifelong but he didn’t pursue it until completing a degree program for a much different field.

“I got a degree in accounting,” he said. “But I don’t think that is for me, I don’t want to sit in a cubicle and work.”

The 24 year old has been working as a reserve officer with the department since January of 2009 and is eager to get out and patrol on his own.

“I’m excited to start working and learning new things,” said Schlosser. “It’s a job where every day is a little different from the last and I like that.”

For Clint Sanford a career in law enforcement is nearly a family tradition.

“I have a lot of family members involved with law enforcement,” he said. “And growing up, I always thought that that’s what I wanted to do with my life.”

The 22 year old completed an associates degree in criminal justice prior to attending the academy and spent time as a reserve officer.

His colleague, 23-year-old Intae Suh, also completed a degree in the law enforcement field — a bachelor’s degree in criminology.

“I’ve always been interested in law enforcement,” said Suh. “I’m excited that I am in the position now to serve the community that I grew up in.”

According to Culpepper, law enforcement agencies in the are hiring more officers now than in the time immediately following the economic slowdown.

“Nationally, law enforcement agencies were forced to make a lot of cuts due to lacking funding over the past few years,” he said. “But as we see the economy come back I think a lot of cities like Cullman will fill many of those positions back.”

* Sam Rolley can be reached by e-mail at srolley@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 225.

Citizen police academies have been a part of many departments’ community relations strategies for years, and more cities are seeing the benefit of directly educating curious residents.

“It’s a great tool for the division to use to stay in touch with the citizens that we serve so they understand what we do, as opposed to seeing it on TV,” said Sgt. Melissa McFadden of the Columbus Police Division. “Television has skewed their perception. They have these big expectations.”

Students in citizen police academies have classes in DUI enforcement, weapons and shooting, crime scene investigation, booking procedures and even SWAT. Students’ ages and backgrounds vary.

Columbus averages 25 or 30 residents per class. In its first class in the spring, Powell had more than a dozen residents ranging in age from 21 to 73.

Most citizen police academies are free to residents. They don’t cost departments much because most instructors are on duty anyway. And officers say their departments are paid back several times over through volunteer hours dedicated by academy alumni associations.

In Westerville, the 125-member alumni association has spent more than 7,000 hours volunteering with community programs, such as the recent Cops and Kids Day and Fourth Friday events. They also raise money to send officers to training seminars and conventions.

Carol Hribar, 60, was part of Westerville’s first class in 2000 and now is the treasurer of the alumni association.

Police officers “can only do so much in the community,” said Hribar, who is also a member of the National Citizen Police Academy Association board. “You are educating your citizens on what to look for.”

Academy graduates also become contacts for officers as they attempt to share information throughout the community.

“We have a core group of residents that have a better understanding of what we deal with on a daily basis and know what our concerns are, and are being our eyes and ears in the community,” said Officer Heather Galli of the Upper Arlington Police Department, which has had its program since 2006.

In urban districts, having allies in neighborhoods is even more important. Graduates can act as ambassadors for the officers, said McFadden, who ran the city’s 17-year-old program from 2001 until last year.

“It lets the officers know there are friends out there,” McFadden said. “Everyone we usually see is in a negative light, but it reminds us that not all people are bad. It’s not us versus them.”

Columbus tries to recruit students from all neighborhoods and walks of life.

“Urban communities have issues with police,” McFadden said. “Some people have never seen an officer in a positive light until they take this course.”

The idea of training citizens is moving beyond police departments. In the spring, the city of Delaware held its first citizens academy, where residents learned about the seven municipal departments. Now, one of the graduates, Chris Jones, is the newest member of the City Council.

“We believe that the more informed residents are, the more active they can be in their local government, and that’s a good thing,” said city spokesman Lee Yoakum, who coordinated the program.

The Delaware County EMS and 911 center are looking to start their own classes, teaching residents how to save a life and how EMS fits in with other departments.

EMS Chief Rob Farmer chalked up the increase in citizen academies to a more inquisitive community.

“This provides them not only the opportunity to read about it in the newspaper, but to interact directly with those agencies and get a firsthand feel for how those operations work,” he said.

The Lackawanna College Police Academy will graduate 14 cadets tonight at its 190th commencement ceremony, set for 6 p.m. at the Mellow Theater.

New Scranton Police Chief Dan Duffy will be the keynote speaker.

The graduates are:

James P. Anglin, Scranton; Michael T. Brodosky, Hughestown; Aaron C. Brown, Stroudsburg; Kevin D. Cielski, Tunkhannock; Timothy M. Cramer, South Gibson; Kyle J. Gilmartin, Pittston; Jeremy K. Kahle, Roseto; Jeffrey S. Lewis, Larksville; Stephen V. Miaris, Moscow; Paul M. Murazzi, Olyphant; Thomas P. Sheehan, Archbald; Kenneth Shotwell Jr., Duryea; Corey F. Sidorek, Dallas; and Jaron J. Yancewicz, Greeley.

Authorities said the instructor, who denies wrongdoing, was transferred late Friday to the police department’s sex offender registration unit.

Police Chief Roberto Hylton said the instructor recorded perfect scores for cadets on several tests because he was too lazy to write down their actual grades.

An investigation is ongoing.

Police Chief Skip Holbrook talked about the hiring and the agency’s recruitment efforts Aug. 7 at a statewide gathering of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Branches from across the state met at Huntington’s First Baptist Church.

Holbrook told the NAACP that various groups, such as the city’s Black Pastors’ Ministerial Association, had expressed the need for his force to hire more minorities. He inherited a department with 86 total officers, which included five women and two minorities.

Jammal Goodman, a 31-year-old, Brooklyn, N.Y., native, is one of four Huntington police officers among 38 basic officers scheduled to graduate Friday, Aug. 20, from the West Virginia State Police Academy in Institute.

“He’s an outstanding young man,” Holbrook said. “I’m very proud of the fact that we were able to find somebody of his quality, and he’s going to be an asset to our department and the community.”

But the effort doesn’t stop with Goodman’s swearing in, the chief said.

Holbrook told NAACP leaders he accepted the past criticism and took action. His department has received input from the Fairfield West neighborhood, expanded its recruiting zone to 300 miles and started targeting minority universities and colleges.

“Our department needed to represent the community in terms of its makeup,” he said in recalling past criticism. “I do agree with that. … We need to do better.”

Minorities account for about 10 percent of the population in the city of Huntington and about 4.5 percent for the Huntington-Ashland metro area, according to Census statistics.

Holbrook views doing better as a key necessity to his department maintaining its standards.

“We want to foster a relationship, foster those qualities that we need that makes men and women want to come and be a Huntington police officer and be proud of this profession,” he said.

Sometimes meeting that desire requires a better first impression. Huntington Police Capt. Hank Dial said the department met with an agency to redevelop its recruitment brochures and advertising campaign. For instance, he said previous advertisements consisted of “Wanted” billboards and posters more closely resembling a method used to catch a fugitive.

“We’re now stepping out of that,” Dial said. “That almost has a negative connotation. So we’re changing all of that.”

The captain told attendees they could see products of the new campaign as early as October with testing to begin in January 2011. He said the new campaign has been developed by professionals, who advised the department as to necessary items that should be included to attract certain demographics.

Dial said applicants likely will have until late January 2011 to apply.

But improving the department’s relationship with minorities doesn’t stop at recruiting.

Holbrook told attendees it also involves being selective as to whom the department hires. His administration has developed a review board, which includes members of the African-American community. Among its members are local NAACP branch president Silvia Ridgeway, the Rev. Reginald Hill of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and a member of Cabell County Schools.

“We want other people in the community, not just police officers, to participate in that process and give us that feedback,” Holbrook said. “If they see something in a recruit or applicant that causes a red flag to go up, we want to know that, and we want to look into it and make sure we’re making good decisions.”

After the applicant leaves the room, Dial said the review board engages in a conversation. They discuss the interview and receive the community members’ input.

“There’s been folks that we’ve decided not to hire after that discussion,” Dial said. “We pretty much agree pretty quickly when it’s one of those folks.”

Coston Davis Jr. , the president for the state and Charleston NAACP branches, spoke of his efforts to help the Charleston Police Department recruit black officers. He would attend the physical and written test to encourage black applicants. He urged Huntington’s community to do the same, step past the last 16 years and join the enhanced strategy.

“I would shake each one of their hands as they came in to let them know the NAACP is supportive of this initiative,” he said. “It’s not just a one-way street. It has to be a two-way street. We have to show the same commitment that they’re showing. It’s not going to happen overnight. It’s a process.”

At the NAACP meeting, comments from Holbrook and Dial did garner some questions and slight criticism, including from Phil Carter, a social work professor at Marshall University.

“That’s inexcusable,” he said of the department’s 16-year span in hiring its last black officer. “I mean I don’t understand how that could happen.”

Carter excused Holbrook as he has only been chief for a short time, but he criticized the department, calling the lack of minority representation a “systemic problem” demanding “something has to drastically be done in order to break that cycle.”

“I completely agree,” Holbrook said.

Another attendee asked about specific goals, such as how many minority officers the chief wanted to hire by 2012.

“Our goal is to continue to enhance our recruitment efforts to attract as many minority applicants as possible,” Holbrook replied. “To me the goal is to attract as many qualified applicants as possible.”

Carter encouraged the police chief to seek input for black community members who possess a high level of afrocentric understanding and black consciousness. Particularly those experienced in dealing with youth within the black community.