Citizens' Police Academy - Essay Example

The paper "Citizens' Police Academy" is a good example of an essay on social science. Citizen’s police academy is a program that is designed purposely to sensitize individuals who are not police officers with the activities of the police. The purpose of the Citizen’s police academy program is not to train individuals for a police post or to work on a shift as a police officer, but to create awareness to the society on who and what it is to be a police officer, their roles and jurisdictions. The citizen police academy is not a law enforcement agency, but is a program that gives the civilians and citizens a chance to learn the law enforcement process in a non – threatening situation (Sherman 1980.

The program operates in most states of America, including Chesapeake, Virginia. In Chesapeake, the program is known as Chesapeake citizen’s police academy (CCPA). Chesapeake citizens aged over 18 years are eligible for training that takes 14 weeks. The program is quite essential since it teaches the citizens various police facets, including use of force, crime analysis, crime investigation, drug investigation, firearms investigation and life behind the bars. During and after the training, individual volunteerism in the police unit or departments is encouraged.

According to American Police Academy (1970), the program influences much on the police department. This training encourages loyalty and observation of the law. Through the training, citizens become obedient to the law and the police unit. The roles of the police are clearly revealed to the society, with the procedures they should take to handle a criminal case. This enlightens the citizens to raise an alarm in case of any mistreatment or failure of responsibility in the police department. Through this program, the rights of the citizens and the jurisdictions of the police department are clearly observed. Read More