Citizen Police Academy
Posted on September 30, 2015 by Ching under Things to Do.
Brian and I are now halfway through Citizen Police Academy (CPA) so I figured I can tell you a little bit about the experience. The CPA is a thirteen week program designed to provide a working knowledge and background of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and Wichita Police Department (WPD). The main goal of the program is to foster a closer relationship between local law enforcement agencies and the community. CPA provides an avenue for community involvement and provides first hand experience of policing.
We’ve been in it a few weeks now and, for a program that costs absolutely nothing, it’s a super awesome experience. Brian and I are learning so much about local law enforcement. All of the speakers and presenters from both the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and WPD have been very informative and accommodating. We have an inquisitive class and we always have lots of questions, which they answer patiently.
The topics we will cover during the 13 weeks of CPA include:
- WPD and Sedgwick County Sheriff patrol operations
- Overview of Investigations
- Homicide and Robbery Investigations
- Gang Unit
- Tour of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Firearms Training Facility
- Polygraph Operations
- Exploited and Missing Child Unit (EMCU)
- Tours of the Sheriff’s Crime Lab and the WPD Crime Lab
- Tours of the Records Bureau and the 911 Emergency Communications Center
- Overview of Community Affairs and Community Policing
- Air Section Helicopter “fly-in” and presentation
- Traffic Radar Demo
- SWAT Team Demo
- Bomb Squad Demo
- Tour of the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility (including an opportunity to sample jail food)
I can tell you that I’m not looking forward to that last item on the list, which we are actually doing next week. I hope they don’t force me to eat the jail food. I got to try it last year when my Leadership Wichita class spent the morning part of our session at the detention facility. Lunch was really memorable that day because we got to have lunch with some of the trustees and the food was terrible. Immediately after that experience I made a comment to Brian that fewer crimes would be committed if people only knew how horrible jail food is. I can’t wait for Brian to try it.
Our favorite session so far has been our session at the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Firearms Training Facility. I took lots of pictures that night because I didn’t feel like I got to take enough pictures when my Leadership Wichita class went through last year. I made up for it this time.
Obligatory firing range photo. 😉
The facility was established in 1995. Incidentally, that is the same year that my family moved to the Wichita area.
Here are some more pictures from our tour of the facility.
Here’s Brian’s “shoot or no shoot” scenario.
We all thought it was over but then the guy actually pops back up out of nowhere. I really thought Brian got him and he was dead. He wouldn’t stay down, though. At least Brian got him in the head.
This is our friend Bill’s scenario.
Brian gearing up.
Brian and KSN’s Denise getting ready for their simunition exercise scenario.
Here they go!
Debriefing…
A few others in class volunteered. Here’s another scenario along with the debriefing.
Last set.
The debriefing was actually really educational. Even though I didn’t volunteer I learned a lot from watching the participants, how they reacted during the simulation, and the discussion that followed afterward.
Brian got interviewed by KSN at the end of our session. I hope that he told them what a great experience this has been so far and how grateful he is that I talked him into signing up. LOL. Seriously. He didn’t want to do it at first. I really had to sell him on the idea. It was the “shoot or no shoot” exercise that really sealed the deal for him. That night was his most awaited night of CPA training. I’m glad that he got to participate in all of it. I’m also glad that I’m sharing this whole experience with him.
Couples who learn and grow together, stay together!
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