Citizens Police Academy Accepting Aps

PALO ALTO, CA -- If you've ever thought about supporting the thin blue line, show us your true colors.

The city police department is now accepting applications for its next Basic Citizens Police Academy, which runs from April to May 2019.

The Basic Citizens Police Academy is an eight-week course designed to foster increased understanding and communication between community members and the police. Instructors are public safety employees, who present on topics such as patrol procedures, laws of arrest, search and seizure, community relations, criminal investigations, evidence collection, police accountability, officer safety through use of force and disaster preparedness.

Students are also able to go on a ride-along with a patrol officer, participate in a “sit-along” with our public safety dispatchers and experience a video simulator reviewing options in using force to subdue a suspect. The Citizens Police Academy offers participants detailed insight into how the Palo Alto agency operates and how it serves the community.

The Wednesday sessions scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. will visit various Palo Alto facilities beginning on April 10 and ending on May 29 - with a kick-off event set for April at 6 p.m.

The academy is free, but the class is limited to 25 students.

Applications for this session are due no later than March 13. Applicants must be at least 14 years old, live or work in Palo Alto or the immediate surrounding community. Serving on the academy requires no felony convictions and no misdemeanor convictions within the past year.

Entrance to the academy also mandates a successful completion of a criminal background check. After submitting the written application, applicants will have an interview with the Citizens Police Academy coordinator before the criminal background check is performed. Preference is given to Palo Alto residents and students, community members who work in Palo Alto and people employed by the city.

Interested members of the community may download a Basic Citizens Police Academy application by clicking https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/68232. Completed applications should be e-mailed to pd@cityofpaloalto.org, sent via U.S. Mail to the Palo Alto Police Department (attn: Citizens Police Academy), or dropped off at the front desk of the police station during normal business hours from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m..

Additional information can be received at pd@cityofpaloalto.org.