FLORENCE, Ky. — The Florence Police Department is teaching the community how to do their job, sort of.
Once a week, for eight weeks, citizens and officers come together to discuss various topics and techniques used in law enforcement.
“Last week was the coroner's office one of our detectives talking about his cases, and then the drug investigation. And then tonight we’re doing crime scene and self-defense,” said Patrick Cottingham, a community resource officer with the Florence Police Department.
Cottingham said the course is just a small sliver of their jobs and the actual police academy.
From self-defense to crime scene analysis, those who participate in the citizen academy learn what officers do and why they do it, all with the goal of community involvement.
“They can go into the community and be ambassadors,” said Cottingham. “Anything that we can do to build that bond with the community and work together is a good thing.”
Participants told us that this experience has opened their eyes to the reality of law enforcement.
“I already admired the police but I have an even bigger appreciation for them and everything that they do for the community,” said Luciey Cummins, a citizen academy participant.
Cottingham said the academy has been successful, noting several people have gone on to become department volunteers or even go through the real police academy.
He said it’s also helped within their own local government.
“We had a new city council member come through the academy, and she got to learn kind of what we do and why we do it, which has really helped the relationship between her and our bosses,” Cottingham said.
Officers say that they learn from the academy as well. With participant questions, they learn what the community wants to see and what they think about certain aspects of the job.
The academy is free to anyone who wishes to participate. Their next session will be in the spring and will be posted online and on their Facebook when registration opens.
