CRESTVIEW — Among other police support projects, Crestview Citizens Police Academy alumni are manning school crossings and raising funds for a fallen law enforcement officers memorial.
They recruit new academy students and turn out to support officers during events such as the recent Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics.
This week, they’ll get some helpers.
The CPA Alumni Association’s membership will increase by 17 graduates Tuesday evening.
“It’s our biggest class yet,” Community Policing division Officer Sam Kimmons said.
The academy’s fourth class’s graduating members range in age from their lower 20s to their 60s and include residents from all walks of life, Kimmons said.
Since February, they’ve attended 10 weekly Tuesday classes, learning about a range of police and other emergency services’ duties. They investigated a mock crime scene, fired guns at the shooting range, and visited the Okaloosa Correctional Institute.
“They got to try on SWAT gear,” Kimmons. “And they crawled around inside a fire truck, too.”
Graduating member Angie Nousiainen, who handles the well-known Dozer the Therapy Dog, said the academy gave her a broader understanding of local emergency services.
“I kinda figured since Dozer and I spend so much time out in the public and doing things in Crestview, it would be nice to know exactly how everything works,” she said. “It was actually quite interesting. Parts of it were more interesting than others, but it was all a lot of good information.”
For graduates like her, Kimmons said he and Officer Wanda Hulion are developing a curriculum for an advanced class.
“We’re brainstorming it to get an advanced class started for people who’ve already gone through,” Kimmons said. “It’s in the works. It’ll have some cool stuff in it.”
The next Citizens Police Academy will be February 2017.
WHAT: Crestview Citizens Police Academy graduation
WHEN: 6 p.m. May 10
WHERE: Warriors Hall, Whitehurst Municipal Building, Stillwell Boulevard at Industrial Drive
NOTES: Public graduation ceremony for the fourth Crestview Citizens Police Academy class. Information will be available about next year’s class, the academy’s Alumni Association, and plans for an advanced class. Refreshments will be served.
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Fourth Crestview Citizens Police Academy class to graduate May 10