KINGSLAND — Police Chief Darryl Griffis believes air conditioning is one of the worst things to happen to law enforcement.
Instead of walking beats, officers began riding them in the air-cooled comfort of patrol cars. The squad cars’ rolled-up windows became a barrier separating officers and the people they’ve sworn to protect and serve, depriving them of one of the best chances they had to get to know and trust each other, he said.
“I hope to get rid of that barrier or at least lower it. I want people to know more about our department than just my name,” Griffis said as a dozen men and women in the inaugural class of the department’s Citizens Academy arrived for their first session recently.
“We want to try to foster a better relationship with the citizens,” Griffis said. “We want citizens to know they can trust us and call on us to help. Without the trust and help of the community, it’s harder for us to do our job, which is protecting the citizens.”
The 10-week Citizens Academy promises participants an inside look at real police work. They’ll learn it’s different from what they see on television, Griffis said.
It is the latest in a series of community police programs implemented by the department, which has 48 officers and an annual budget of about $2 million.
Although they will learn detailed real-world lessons about police work, academy participants won’t be trained or authorized to act as police officers.
Kingsland police officers and civilian staff members will serve as instructors for the academy. Participants will learn the basics of police work, how the department functions and its role in the criminal justice and public safety systems.
“It’s going to be half classroom and half hands-on instruction,” police Lt. Todd Tetterton, one of the academy coordinators, told the first class.
The program is open to those 18 or older who live or work in Kingsland, in southeast Georgia, or who belong to a citywide service club or organization, Tetterton said.
“I thought this was a good way to get involved in the community,” Suzanne Reinke of Mariner’s Landing said about her reason for enrolling.
A criminal justice student at Valdosta State University, Reinke also has two brothers who are police officers in Milwaukee. The academy is an opportunity, she said, to learn more about a criminal justice career.
Richard Goldsmith, also of Mariner’s Landing, and Donald Petrine of St. Marys had attended similar academies in their former hometowns.
“This looks more comprehensive than the last one I took back in April 2005,” said Goldsmith, formerly from Reedsburg, Wis. “I want to see the different [policing] techniques.”
Petrine, formerly of Yorktown, Va., said he wanted to learn how the Kingsland police work. It also is a way to contribute to the community, he said.
Although this is the first citizens academy offered by Kingsland police, similar programs have proven successful in Waycross and Brunswick.
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