Members of the police department are excited by the success of its first-ever Citizens Police Academy, so they’re applying for grants to continue the program next year.
“We’re getting excellent feedback on the Citizens Police Academy, they absolutely love it and enjoy the course and look forward to it every week,” said Community Police Officer Sergio Desiderato, who addressed the Board of Police Commissioners Thursday night during their meeting at Town Hall.
He told the commission he has applied for the maximum $3,000 grant from The Community Foundation For Greater New Haven for a program like that. He should know by May whether the grant will be awarded.
The program began in January and runs through the end of March.
“It’s a win-win for the police department and the community, a vehicle to get information back to the community and for us to understand the community’s needs,” Desiderato said.
The department has also talked about the possibility of applying for a Katharine Matthies Foundation grant. It costs roughly $7,000 a year to run the academy.
The program builds bridges between the department and the community.
“We want to show the citizens exactly what we go through as police foficers, so the program has several different types of information we disseminate to the students,” Desiderato said.
For example, there was a class on becoming a police officer and all the elements involved.
Classes are held at the Seymour Police Department every Wednesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. There are discussions of motor vehicle law, including DWI enforcement, criminal law, domestic violence, juvenile law, computer crimes, search and seizure and the process of the criminal justice system among other topics.
There are also demonstrations performed by the department’s K‑9 team as well as from members of the Emergency Services Unit.
The classes are taught by Seymour officers as well as guest speakers from other agencies. To participate, residents must be at least 18 years old. They go through background checks and seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
It is too late to sign up for this year’s session but, for information on next year’s program, contact Capt.Paul Beres, Lt. Paul Satkowski or Desiderato at 203 – 881-7600.
