By William Moore
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Citizens who want to learn more about the ins and outs of the Tupelo Police Department have more time to sign up for the Citizens Police Academy.
Officials have extended the deadline for applications to allow more people to attend the informative series that will meet both Mondays and Thursdays for nine weeks. Applications, available at the TPD office on Lemmons Drive or online at tupeloms.gov, will be accepted through the end of the month.
The classes will be taught from 6 p.m. until 9:15 p.m. at the North Mississippi Law Enforcement Training Center beginning in September.
“We have a lot of applications out and there is a lot of interest but with summer vacations, it was hard to get people to commit to classes in July or August so we decided to push it back a month,” said Deputy Police Chief Allan Gilbert. “We require people to attend 90 percent of the classes (16 of the 18 sessions). Even if you only miss a couple of classes, you will miss a lot of information.”
Officers, detectives, crime scene technicians and others will instruct the classes that are designed to show average citizens not only how the department operates but why officers do things the way they do.
“Not only will we show them statistics and policies, we will show people why we approach cars the way we do in a traffic stop,” Gilbert said. “We will explain why and when we run with blue lights and sirens.
“Our goal is to educate people. When something comes up at a neighborhood association meeting, we would love for someone to be able to stand up and say, ‘I went to the Citizens Police Academy and this is why they do it that way.’”
There is no cost for the Citizens Police Academy, which is not limited to just Tupelo residents. Participants must be at least 21 years old, have a valid state-issued ID and pass a background check. The classes are designed to be neither stressful nor dangerous.
william.moore@journalinc.com