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BPD Citizen Academy Is Accepting Applications

The Bellevue Police Department is pleased to announce its annual Citizen’s Academy. Beginning Thursday, September 4th and continuing every successive Thursday evening for eleven weeks, the Citizen’s Academy will give the attendees an exciting and uncommon access to the inside of modern public safety management. From 6:00 to 9:50 each Thursday evening, police experts will instruct the class members on everything from department recruiting to high-risk arrest scenarios. Citizens are eligible to attend if they are 21 years old and either live in the Bellevue city limits, or have a home protected by the Bellevue Volunteer Fire Department. Whether viewing an exciting K9 demonstration or welcoming a police helicopter, the student will be part of the action.

Bellevue citizens Mary and Mike Overton attended the citizen’s academy last year. Mary Overton encourages Bellevue citizens to attend, she said "I’ve always had respect for them but attending the academy tripled my respect. We were overwhelmed by what we learned. You think you know what they do, that they’re just patrolling. But these officers do so much, everything is so in-depth, from the narcotics unit to the crime scene investigations. Our officers are very special. They’re so approachable. They really want to interact and they taught us that we are their second set of eyes. I was so impressed."

Please contact Mr. Glen R. Truax, Bellevue Police at 637-5852 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. to arrange for an application. Media representatives are always welcome to attend all or individual sessions of the Citizen’s Academy.

Mary Overton wants to attend again. She said, "they’re covering some different stuff this year," and added, "Your community is as good as you make it. I think a lot of them, we are so proud of what they do."

Photos: Mary and Mike Overton at Police Citizen Academy 2007