CITIZEN COPS

The Citizen’s Police Academy gives civilians a closer look at what police

By Kara Hansen

The West Linn Tidings, Dec 3, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

From left, Clackamas County Sheriff’s Dep. Don Weatherford, a former West Linn police officer, and West Linn Police Sgt. Mike Boyd, West Linn’s coordinator for the multi-agency Citizen’s Police Academy, conduct a session recently at the Milwaukie Police Department.

VERN UYETAKE / west linn tidings

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A graphic designer. A landscaper. A home-based senior-living consultant.

The roughly 20 people meeting weekly at local law enforcement facilities represent a wide range of occupations, but they have at least one thing in common: They’re all part of the Citizen’s Police Academy, a collaborative effort involving five police departments.

This is the fifth year police departments in Lake Oswego, Milwaukie and West Linn have offered the program, which has grown to include Canby and Gladstone police as well. Instruction is a mix of classroom and hands-on education.

By the time they “graduate” from the free, voluntary program at a ceremony Wednesday, participants will have clocked almost 50 hours over 11 weeks learning the ins and outs of police work, from relatively routine calls and daily administrative tasks to the riskier side of the business, including hostage negotiations, firearms use and high-speed vehicle pursuits.

Their reasons for participating vary.

Lake Oswego resident John Hanan, who owns an advertising and graphic design business, said he learned a lot about emergency operations while training to be part of a community emergency-response team.

But he wanted to learn more. He found out about the citizen’s academy from Lake Oswego Police Lt. Doug Treat.

“It’s been quite an eye opener,” Hanan said, describing a class on drug enforcement and identity theft as a highlight. “I’ve had experience with identity theft at a previous job, and I thought I knew about drug enforcement, but I found out there’s so much more to it.”

West Linn resident Jennifer Cook said she was recruited for the academy last year.

A home-based-business owner and mom of a middle-schooler, Cook met West Linn Police Sgt. Mike Boyd while “on a quest for drug education.”

“He had a great presentation called chemistry in our community,” she said.

Boyd is also West Linn’s coordinator for the academy. He suggested she attend.

“He thought I’d enjoy going through it as a business owner, as an active member of the chamber of commerce, to get to know a little bit about the police department and the reality of the job,” Cook said.

She agreed.

“It’s a large percentage of our tax dollars. We should definitely know where and how they’re being spent.”

And since the first session Sept. 9, Cook’s view of law enforcement has shifted some.

“They run you through the entire process, from when a call is made to the police department and what goes on there, to if someone is arrested, how long they can be held and what that process is,” she said. “It’s given me much better insight into the breadth of their responsibilities and the challenges they face with government and with the public in their jobs. It’s given me greater sympathy toward the job they have to do.”

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