To Chief Nichols credit, he has recently begun several community outreach efforts. One of them is the Citizens Police Academy. That program is intended to serve as an important opportunity to educate the citizens of Starkville about our police personnel and their role in our community.
With any luck, it will also result in more of us understanding and taking responsibility for the role we play in being pro-active, positive members of our city.
I am excited to be included in that first class. It is a 10 week program with a curriculum that seems to be thorough in its representation of the duties, daily activities and general environment of the police force.
There are numerous large cities such as Austin, New York and Boston and multiple smaller towns across America with established citizen academies. In Mississippi we have several of our larger communities, Jackson, Gulfport and Southaven that have regular academy classes as well.
The origin of the local citizens’ police academy is traced back to the United Kingdom in 1977. It was so popular that the constabulary in Cornwall had a waiting list for participation. The idea spread to the United States in 1985 with the first citizens’ police academy established in Orlando, Florida. Missouri City, Texas, was next and the concept began picking up steam around the country.
The stated goal is to educate the local residents about what the police do thereby furthering understanding. Given the national exposure to adversarial occurrences lately between the police and the people they serve, it appears to be a program that could benefit from further expansion.
It is obviously not a panacea for problems between the police and the citizenry. Baltimore and Cleveland both have an academy but we all know the headline grabbing problems they have encountered despite these outreach efforts.
Some of the negative national media coverage about police departments across the country stems from on-the-scene amateur camera-phone recordings that have exposed at best questionable and at worst criminal police behavior. Some of it seems to stem from the federal government providing retired military equipment to the local police departments fostering an atmosphere of occupation rather than protection.
The trust that used to be assumed for a police officer has been battered by the exposure that some situations and officers have received. Justifiably or not, it is a condition that has to be dealt with by all police departments. Even if the news stories are coming from big cities, the pervasive sense of distrust slops over to every police department. Again, we can hope this is a part of that solution.
As former military and at one time married to a Chief of Police, I am predisposed to give police the benefit of the doubt. I am, however, keenly aware that others have entirely different experiences with military and paramilitary organizations.
When Chief Nichols mentioned the program to me I was eager to be a part of it. I found out later that they advertised the program and sought applications, but the response was low. One of the things those of us in attendance should do is to spread the word about the value of this experience so it will become a fixture for the department.
I think one of the problems manifested by the low interest is that there is a $50 charge for the experience. Perhaps there is an opportunity for some businesses to sponsor class members or local citizens might be willing to provide scholarships for those interested. It is conceivable that those who might be most in need of establishing a rapport with the police won’t be able to comfortably afford the tuition.
Right now the requirement is to be at least 21 years of age, but there could be some real benefit from a similar program for the local teenagers. The earlier they get to know the police the better the future relationship can be. It might also serve as inspiration to our youth for a career in law enforcement.
It is not a stretch to understand that when the police find themselves in contact with nothing but the worst elements of the population they begin to believe the worst about all of us. The academy is an opportunity to meet each other in a non-adversarial role. Maybe the next time I get hit with a speeding ticket which is one of my inevitabilities of life, I will have a much better attitude about it. Maybe.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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