CARIBOU, Maine — The Caribou Police Department recently asked local residents via social media if they would be interested in joining a Citizen’s Police Academy, which would cover several topics regarding the work and duties of law enforcement.
Sgt. Chad Cochran is spearheading this program, and said the inspiration came after researching these academies for months, and also after speaking with other departments that have held similar programs.
As a result, Cochran said he found these academies to “be a great tool in connecting with the community.”
At this point, Caribou Police Department is just looking to see how many in the community would be interested in participating, and Cochran said they are hoping to have a class ranging from 10 to 15 people.
Just a day after first posting about the academy, more than 50 have commented with the vast majority expressing interest in the program.
Cochran said that he and other officers are “still working to fine tune the program,” adding that it “would cover a wide variety of topics” and “hopefully include scenarios, traffic stops, K9s, and various other topics that citizens would be interested in.”
Additionally, he said the program would likely include several speakers discussing their topic of expertise with the class. Ultimately, Cochran said the police intend for them “to be interactive and hands-on.”
He anticipates that the academy would “run approximately 10 to 12 weeks,” with one two-hour meeting each week and possibly one Saturday meeting to demonstrate a police scenario.
At the end of the course, Cochran said participants will earn a certificate for completion.
While Cochran would be the lead instructor and cover “one or two topics,” he said other law enforcement officers would also instruct various other classes based on their area of expertise.
“I’m hoping to get as many officers involved in this program as possible,” he said, “so that the community can draw from all our resources.”
A significant amount of work will be involved as far as scheduling time for instructors and securing a location for meetings, but Cochran said he feels that “what we will get out of the program will far exceed the amount of work we will need to put into it.”
Cochran said he hopes that the work will connect the Caribou community with their police department.
“We are only as strong as the community around us,” he said. “We hope to develop an application for the academy soon and get it out to the community.”
In the meantime, anyone interested in the program can call Cochran at the Caribou Police Department at 493-3301 or email him at chad.cochran@cariboumaine.org.
