Chicago Police Department wants to establish stronger connections with communities all over Chicago. One of the examples is the “Citizen’s Police Academy”. Instructors and experts from different police units share their knowledge, skills and facts about their daily work.
The photo above shows instructors and coordinators from the Chicago Police Department who coordinated “Citizen’s Police Academy” in the Spring of 2016.
The Chicago Citizen’s Police Academy had its graduation on June 21, 2016. It was Class Spring 2016. There were 50 graduates from all over the city. I was one of graduates. We completed course requirements during 9 weeks. During every training we had 2-3 informative presentations from different units in the Chicago Police Department. The idea behind the training is to build stronger connections with communities around Chicago. There area areas in chicago when police have good connections and there are areas where there are many complaints.
Let me share a few topics from the trainings: Procedural Justice, Independent Police Review Board, Bureau of Internal Affairs, Crisis Intervention Team, Troubled Buildings, OEMC, Domestic Violence, Office of News Affairs, K-9 Training.
Andrew Mikołajczyk, civilian participant in ‘Citizen Police Academy’” program with Chicago Police officer.
One of the most interesting sessions was a presentation by experts at the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. OEMC is coordinating responses to 911 center (over 5,000,000 phone calls a year) and to 311 (over 3,000,000 phone calls a year) and coordinates many special events.
Andrew Mikolajczyk and officer Schenk
Officer Schenk, CPD trained several hundred CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) participants. CERT is a national program to train civilian to help during emergency situations.
One of the concepts taught during the Citizens Police Academy is an abbreviated training on “Procedural Justice”. This course has been offered to 12,000 Chicago Police Officers in last few years.
Citizens Police Academy and recruit, Andrew Mikołajczyk
The program aims to strengthen relationships between the stakeholders of the community and the Chicago Police Department. Civilian participants in ‘Citizen Police Academy’ are selected from across the city. They are interested in improving safety in Chicago. Among participants are community activists, spiritual leaders, teachers, students, social workers etc.
“Procedural justice is the idea of fairness in the processes that resolve disputes and allocate resources. One aspect of procedural justice is related to discussions of the administration of justice and legal proceedings”, says Wikipedia.
One of benefits of the “Citizen’s police Academy” was the opportunity to ask questions after every session, share concerns and to hear instructors perspective on different issues.
The Certificates “Citizen’s Police Academy” were signed by: Eddie T. Johnson, Superintendent, Chicago Police Department, Fred L. Waller, Chief Bureau of Patrol and Eric Washington, Deputy Chief, CAPS Implementation Officer.
“Citizen’s Police Academy’ was an unique opportunity to learn and to better understand and appreciate the work of thousands of Chicago Police Officers who serve and protect communities.
Officers of Citizens Police Academy
There is a lot of work to be done in Chicago by the law enforcement and by Community across the City to improve safety and quality of life of Chicagoans.
@ Andrew (Andrzej) Mikolajczyk
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