Registration is now open for the spring semester session of the Georgia Tech Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy.

A four-week program designed to educate and inform citizens about issues that face campus law enforcement and how GTPD operates, the Citizens Police Academy enrolls 12 attendees each session on a first-come, first-served basis.

“What’s great about the Citizens Police Academy is that you get to know the police officers personally and understand the reasons behind what they do to keep the campus safe,” said Tiffany Means, who works in the Office of Information Technology and attended the academy in fall of 2017. “Each session was interesting and well worth the time commitment.”

The Citizens Police Academy is offered twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. All instructors are members of GTPD, and the program is open to all members of the Georgia Tech community, including students, faculty, and staff.

"The best part of this experience was getting to know more of the GTPD officers, observing the hard work they do and witnessing how much they care about the people on this campus," said Diana Tiernan, who works in Campus Sustainability and participated in the academy in the fall of 2016.  "The second best part was getting to meet the K9s on K9 night. I recommend that anyone take this opportunity if they can."

The spring 2018 academy schedule is as follows:

• 3/13 Welcome
• 3/15 Patrol, Clery Act
• 3/20 Investigations
• 3/22 Special Events, K-9 unit
• 3/27 Technology
• 3/29 Emergency Preparedness
• 4/03 Use of force, firearms
• 4/05 Judgmental simulator
• 4/10 Administration, Crime Prevention, C.O.R.E Team

All sessions meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. except for the April 3 session which meets from 8 a.m. to noon.

“The goal of the Citizens Police Academy is not only to teach but also to connect,” said Officer Jessica Howard, who leads GTPD’s crime prevention efforts. “We get to interact with employees across the Institute. We have fun listening to each other, and both the participants and the police have a positive experience every session.”

To learn more visit the Citizens Police Academy website or access the form directly.