Citizens Police Academy Classes Conclude

Twenty-two people graduated from the Newtown Police Department’s Citizen Police Academy in ceremonies held May 26 at Booth Library, according to Sergeant Christopher Vanghele, the academy coordinator.

First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal was the keynote speaker at the event. It was the ninth Citizen Police Academy, which has been conducted by the police department since 1993.

The annual informational academy is offered free to residents. It provides participants with an overview of local law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

Weekly academy sessions began in March with a tour of the police station and the emergency dispatching center. The academy then met weekly at the Multipurpose Center in Sandy Hook for lectures and demonstrations. Subject matter included the history of the police department, police operations, hiring and training practices, domestic violence law, crime prevention, the use of force, defensive tactics, police patrol work, drunken driving law, criminal law, crime scene investigations, juvenile law, firearms usage, and motor vehicle law, among other topics, according to Sgt Vanghele.

Academy participants saw a demonstration of police stopping a motorist for a felony violation, and then safely taking the motorist into custody.

Students also learned about how police observe, apprehend, and test suspected drunken drivers for sobriety.

Also, academy members saw a demonstration of the “taser,” an electro-shock weapon used by police to safely neutralize aggressive people.

The course included a demonstration of police’s use of less-than-lethal weaponry in the form of a shotgun, which is used to fire “beanbag loads” to temporarily neutralize aggressors.

Academy members also toured the police department’s crime van and learned about fingerprint identification, Sgt Vanghele said.

The course allowed students to use a firearms training simulator, providing them with a sense of the split-second decisionmaking on the use of lethal force, which is required for police work.

On a field trip, academy members toured the state police firearms range in Simsbury, where they were allowed to fire live ammunition with pistols and a submachine gun, Sgt Vanghele said.

A highlight of the academy was a field trip to the Connecticut Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Meriden, a research facility which was founded by noted forensic scientist Dr Henry Lee.

Police plan to conduct another Citizen Police Academy in the spring of 2005.