Citizen's Police Academy (CPA)

Academy TrainingIn 1998 the Mansfield Police Department's first citizen's academy graduated. The curriculum and teaching methods are similar to the traditional police academy, but these students are not police candidates. The class members include a wide cross section of the community's population.

History of the Program

The first Police Night School was held in England in 1977 by the Devon Cromwall Constabulary and met with immediate success. Citizens were anxious to learn of the operations of their police force, which had been obscure and private. Shortly afterward, the Orlando, Fla. Police Department conducted the first Citizen Police Academy in the United States, patterned after the English Police Night School. Since that time other law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. have developed and conducted versions of the Citizen Police Academy.

Program Details

Graduates of the Mansfield Police Citizen's Academy will not be commissioned law enforcement officers. They will be more familiar with the operations of the Mansfield Police Department and will gain a deeper understanding of the problems and policies the officers face daily.

Citizen’s Police Academy Bike TrainingThe 30-hour training program consists of classroom and hands on instruction to provide the public with a working knowledge of the Mansfield Police Department. Participants will meet for three hours once a week during a 10-week course. Instructions will be comprehensive, and each week a different area of the police department will be covered, with each session facilitated by one or more Mansfield Police Officers who are state certified instructors or experts in a particular field.

Topics

Topics covered will include:

  • accident investigation
  • building searches (with and without K-9)
  • communications/dispatch operations
  • crime scene investigation
  • criminal law
  • DWI/DUI investigation
  • family violence
  • jail operations
  • K-9
  • orientation
  • shooting simulator
  • student participation in mock building searches
  • student participation in mock family violence disturbances
  • student participation in mock low risk and high risk traffic stops
  • SWAT and negotiations
  • Texas State Penal Code
  • traffic laws and Seven Step Violator Contact
  • use of force

Purpose

The CPA's purpose is to build a better understanding of the police department's functions. The academy classes fill up quickly upon the starting of a new class. A vast amount of time has been put into the CPA course, and all of the classes are taught by police officers themselves. The officers teaching the course are all certified instructors by the State of Texas.

Upon successful graduation from the course, the CPA members are given an opportunity to join the Volunteers In Police Service Program.

Additional Information

For details on the next CPA Academy Class contact the Community Resource Division at 817-728-3685 or check the Police Department's Facebook Page.

  1. Photo of Scott Rinehart

    Scott Rinehart

    Police Officer