2017 Citizen’s Police Academy filling up fast as application deadline approaches

Each year the Brentwood Police Department conducts a program to help Brentwood residents gain a greater understanding of what it means to be a police officer.

The Citizen’s Police Academy, now in its 22nd year, will run on Thursday nights at 6 p.m. from March 2 to May 11 at the Brentwood Municipal Center. The deadline to sign up for this year’s Citizen’s Police Academy is Feb. 24, and there are only a handful of spots left.

“[The Citizen’s Police Academy] gives them a very up close and personal, behind the scenes look at how the police department operates,” Captain Alan Hardcastle said, describing what members of the public could expect to get from participating in the program. “We try to be as transparent as we possibly can. There are very few things off limits for us to discuss.”

Field training, use-of-force scenarios, crash investigations — all of these are topics that registrants will learn about at the academy. Only the subject of active investigations will be off limits, Hardcastle said.

As far as the use of force is concerned, Hardcastle said that participants will actually get to try out the department’s use-of-force simulator.

“It puts them in the position of being the police officer,” Hardcastle said. “They have to make use-of-force decisions in a split second. It gives them an idea of what it’s like to be a police officer on the street.”

Another topic that will be covered at the academy is the so-called CSI effect, a term used to describe the way in which crime-related television programs have given the public some false impressions of how police investigations work in the real world.

“We dispel myths and rumors about how we investigate crimes,” Hardcastle said. “We’ll spend a lot of time in the class talking about all these TV shows and how they give a really skewed perception to people about how we operate.”

This will be Hardcastle’s 10th time leading the academy. He said in that time he has formed some lasting friendships with Brentwood residents who have gone through the program. Some of them still call him weekly either just to catch up or to pass along information about crimes in the area.

Strengthening that bond between the department and the community it serves is one of the most important objectives of the academy. Hardcastle described how past attendees have grown less inhibited about speaking to the department.

“It really opens up channels of communication with the public which is what we really want,” he said.

The Citizen’s Police Academy accepts applications from anyone aged 21 or older who either lives or works in Brentwood. Each of the program’s 11 classes are three hours long, with dinner served at the beginning of each class. Graduation will be held on May 18, a week after the last class.

Capt. Hardcastle said that each year the department gets more applicants than it can take. He has a backlog of people who applied to the academy last year and did not get in. These folks usually get first dibs on spots the following year. All this means that there are not many positions remaining in the 2017 CPA class.

Still, the department encourages as many residents as are interested to apply. Brentwood Police see the academy as a valuable resource that they want to share with the community.

“It’s one of the best ways for them to learn and understand how we operate and how we do the things we do,” Hardcastle said. “It’d be a great opportunity for them to experience that. If they’ve got an idea in their mind about why we do things or wondering why we do things, this class is a perfect time for them to come in and ask these questions and let us show them why we do what we do.”

Those interested can apply online here. They can also print off an application here and return it to the police department. Any questions about the program can be directed to Capt. Alan Hardcastle at (615) 577-6041 or at [email protected].