Citizen's Police Academy (CPA)

In 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.

The 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.