Police Plan To Conduct Eleventh Citizen Police Academy

By Andrew Gorosko

Police Sergeant Christopher Vanghele said this week he is accepting applications from residents and local business people who want to attend the police department’s free Citizen Police Academy, an informational course designed to provide the public with general knowledge about local law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

It will be the eleventh time that the police department offers the course, which is conducted each spring.

“Through classroom and hands-on instruction, the students will learn what it is like to be a police officer,” according to Sgt Vanghele.

The academy is slated to start on Tuesday, March 28, and will meet on Tuesday evenings through May 30. There will be a total of ten three-hour sessions. The last session will be a graduation ceremony. Participants must attend at least seven sessions to graduate and receive a certificate of course completion.

The first session on March 28 will be held at the police station at 3 Main Street. Other sessions will be conducted at the town offices at 31 Peck’s Lane. Field trips also will be held.

Sgt Vanghele listed the subject matter of the course. It includes a tour of the police station and the town’s Emergency 911 dispatch center; becoming a police officer; police patrol work; crime prevention; a field trip to a forensics laboratory; a police dog demonstration; crime scene investigation and fingerprinting techniques; firearms instruction; police weaponry; a field trip to the state police’s weapons firing range; and discussions on the law as it applies to juveniles, the schools, and domestic violence. Most instructors will be town police officers.

Academy participants will have an opportunity to ride with a police patrol officer for four hours while the officer is on patrol. The sergeant said that academy participants would not be put in any danger during such periods.

Sgt Vanghele explained that academy must be at least 18. Participation preference will be given to town residents and business people who have not attended a previous academy.

Applications for the academy are available at the police station at 3 Main Street, as well as on the Internet at: www.newtown-ct.gov. Completed applications may be hand-delivered, mailed in, or faxed in. Applicants will be subject to a criminal history record verification.

Sgt Vanghele said that people who have questions about the academy should contact him, telephone 426-5841 and fax 270-0637. The email address is newtown.police@snet.net.