Citizen Academy returns for second go-round
MOSES LAKE — After a successful Columbia Basin Multi-Agency Citizen Academy in 2017, local law enforcement agencies will be teaming up again in 2018 to hold the academy and educate a select few on the ins and outs of law enforcement.
The academy, which is sponsored by Moses Lake Police Department Chief Kevin Fuhr, Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, Ephrata Police Department Chief Mike Warren and Quincy Police Department Chief Kieth Siebert, will be held from April 5 through May 24. Classes will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on two Saturdays in the ATEC building at Big Bend Community College. The academy is free to attend.
Organizers had a successful first iteration of the academy in 2017, graduating 25 of the 27 people who signed up, but they wanted to ramp up the topics covered in 2018 and provide a more hands-on experience.
“We will have firearms and driving simulators this year, where last year we only had the firearms simulator. This year we are also going to a kind of hands-on crime scene scenario for them so they can see what we have to do to process a crime scene,” Fuhr explained.
Class topics to be covered include the history of law enforcement, use of force, firearms, active shooter, traffic enforcement, accident investigation, gang and drug investigations, Neighborhood Watch programs, volunteer programs, a tour of MACC Dispatch, a tour of the Grant County Jail, a demonstration day and more.
“We will bring in the Washington State Patrol, Fish and Game, Liquor and Cannabis. This year we are going to bring in Child Protective Services so that they can hear how a CPS investigation goes,” Fuhr said. “We are going to bring in someone from the Department of Corrections that can talk about the corrections side of this.”
“So we are bringing in some more things based on the input that we had from last year.”
Applications for the academy are due by March 12. Prospective applicants must be 18, have no felony convictions, have no misdemeanor convictions or any crime of violence, not be the subject of any pending criminal investigation and not be the respondent of a no contact order or protection order.
For questions, or to obtain an application, contact one of the following agency representatives: MLPD Capt. Dave Sands at 509-764-3887, GCSO Sgt. John McMillan at 509-754-2011, EPD Capt. Erik Koch at 509-754-4601 or QPD Sergeant Chris Lafferty at 509-787-4718.
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