The Cicero Police Department is offering a 14-week citizens police academy course that takes the average citizen behind the scenes of a police officer’s job.
This is your chance to tour the Onondaga County Department of Correction, learn how law enforcement officers negotiate crisis situations and see how forensic science really works.
If you can’t make it to the Cicero Citizens Police Academy, you can still keep current on the Cicero Police Department’s activities through the E-Policing newsletter.
Cicero residents can sign up to receive a weekly notification of arrests, safety tips and other information from CPD. The E-Policing system can also be used to report non-emergency incidents and concerns to the department.
To subscribe, send your name, address, phone number and email address to [email protected] with “Subscribe to E-Policing” in the subject line. To report an incident, email [email protected] with the subject line “Reporting an incident.”
“These are the kinds of things most people don’t know and want to get the real story,” said CPD volunteer Mike O’Neill. “You watch ‘CSI’ — that’s all Hollywood, it’s not true. You get a glimpse at how it really works.”
O’Neill spent 32 years as a police officer in Chesapeake, Va., where he coordinated a citizens’ police academy. Now he’s bringing the concept to Cicero to encourage residents and law enforcement officers to work together for a safer community.
“The purpose of the police academy is to enlighten and inform citizens as to what police do,” O’Neill said. “There’s been a disconnect between the police and the public.”
Instructors from several local agencies such as the CNYSPCA, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office and the Cicero PD have volunteered their time to give lectures on topics such as the history of law enforcement since colonial times, K9 units, search warrants and water safety and search and rescue. There will be a voluntary firearms demonstration, and tours of the county jail, courts and 911 Center (the Onondaga County Emergency Communications Center).
O’Neill said the classes may touch on high-profile cases of officer-involved violence such as the 2014 shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md.
“[In] every profession, there are people that make mistakes, and police officers are no different,” O’Neill said. “We never take the stance that we’re always right. That’s why we have an internal affairs office.”
Citizens will learn about police officers’ use of force and when it is or is not appropriate. Since many Central New Yorkers are gun owners, the course will touch on legal firearm usage.
The goal of the course, O’Neill said, is not to make citizens “pro-police,” but to help them understand the many facets of a police officer’s job and the role of the citizen in community policing.
O’Neill said citizens’ police academies have a longer-lasting impact in the community than neighborhood watch programs.
“Once the crime drops, people tend to lose interest and [the neighborhood watch program] kind of goes away. Before you know it, crime’s up again,” he said. “This, we find, lasts longer because people are more informed about the law enforcement function, why we do what we do and what they can do to help us perform.”
Convicted felons and wannabe criminals need not apply — O’Neill said the course is aimed at “upstanding citizens.”
“Ninety-nine percent of people in this community are good, hard-working, law-abiding citizens,” he said.
Most classes will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays beginning Sept. 15 at NOPL at Cicero, 8686 Knowledge Lane. Some classes will feature field trips.
To be eligible for the Cicero Citizens Police Academy, you must be a resident of the town of Cicero, be at least 21 years old and have no felony convictions or outstanding warrants. There will be a local background check for all applicants. For more information or to apply, contact the Cicero Police Department at 699-3677 or email [email protected].
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Photo by Highway Patrol Images, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
