February 11, 2016
Registration underway for popular Purdue Citizens Police Academy program
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's police department is offering a free course that will allow the public to get a feel for what it is like to serve and protect.
The Citizens Police Academy, an eight-week program that meets 5:30-8 p.m. on Thursdays at the Purdue Police Department, will begin on March 10. The last session, which will be graduation, is scheduled for May 5. The only Thursday the class will not be in session is March 17, during Purdue spring break week.
Purdue police Capt. Keene Red Elk said the academy has been one of the police department's more popular outreach programs since its inception in 2004. Sessions are participatory. The first-week session includes an introduction, overview, a department tour and a look at some of the department resources, such as bike patrol. Sessions thereafter include S.T.O.P.S.; crime scene management; firearms training; criminal investigations, drug recognition, CALEA accreditation and the records department; and DUI enforcement, emergency vehicle operations, and the K-9 unit. A graduation ceremony will take place during the last session.
Participants will drive fully marked squad cars on a controlled course and receive instruction on field sobriety testing and traffic stops. They also will work in a "crime lab" taking latent fingerprints, analyzing blood spatter and practicing other forensic techniques.
Class size is limited to 25 individuals and will be selected through an application process. Anyone interested in participating should fill out the online application at https://www.dropbox.com/s/ags9wghd3o59jat/CPA application.docx?dl=0 and email it to police@purdue.edu
Writer: Jim Bush, 765-494-2077, jsbush@purdue.edu
Source: Capt. Keene Red Elk, 765-494-8221, klredelk@purdue.edu