CRESTVIEW — Civic and business leaders and residents mingled with Crestview Police officers and their Citizens Police Academy graduates during a community mixer that organizers say they will do again.
“I would like to see us do this at least once a year,” Crestview Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association Vice President Ed Corbett said.
Police Chief Tony Taylor said the mixer’s turnout, which filled the Pine Avenue Elks Lodge, was gratifying to him, his officers and academy alumni.
“It’s really something that hits us here in the heart,” Taylor said. “This community is such a great community. The outpouring of support we get here in Crestview is overwhelming.”
The citizens police academy is a four-year initiative that Taylor said grew from one of his first observations upon becoming the lead of a troubled agency recovering from a headline-making scandal.
“When I first got here, I noticed there wasn’t any interaction between the police and the community,” Taylor said.
Programs such as the Citizens Police Academy have helped restore that missing contact — and trust, he said.
“We’re part of the community and the community is part of us,” Taylor said.
Member Diane Tomlin said the academy’s alumni association fills a needed role.
Association members currently are:
●Raising funds for a fallen officers memorial
●Replacing officers as trained school crossing guards, allowing the officers to return to patrol duties
●Serving as community liaisons
●Recruiting future Citizens Police Academy students
“Whatever the need, we pop up,” Tomlin said. “How can you not pop up when our cops need so much?”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: ‘We’re part of the community’