Warner Robins Police Department offering an inside look at law enforcement with Citizens Police Academy

WARNER ROBINS — The Warner Robins Police Department will once again offer the Citizens Police Academy, with applications for the spring class now open. 

This 11-week program gives citizens an opportunity to get an inside look at the different divisions of the police department, including what they do, how they operate and why or why not they do certain things. 

“[Citizens Police Academy] gives a better understanding of how we operate,” Community Initiatives Officer Greg Martin said. 

Each class will have a representative from a specific division within the police department, who will give a presentation on their topic. These include the hiring process, the patrol division, the investigative division, the drug unit, SWAT and K-9 units, and a look at the Real-Time Crime Center. 

Martin shared his favorite part of the Citizens Police Academy is the overall engagement between the Warner Robins Police Department and the citizens. He said building relationships between the two parties is key and that, hopefully, it will make them advocates of the police. 

“If they’re out and about and somebody says something about something that we did or didn’t do, they could step up and say ‘this is why’ because they have that understanding and knowledge,” he said. 

In the six years Martin has been part of the Citizens Police Academy, he has never heard anyone say anything negative about the program. He said the participants are generally very active, engaging and willing to learn. 

“They want that knowledge and if they don’t understand something, it gets explained to them,” he said. “[Participants] will come out knowing more about how a police department works and how they do things.” 

Martin believes that the Citizens Police Academy is a good way to answer those questions you may have about how the police department works. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “Eleven weeks seems like a long time but it’s only two hours a day once a week. Everybody that I have talked to that has been through the class, I always get positive feedback, and I encourage anybody to participate at some point.” 

The Spring Citizens Police Academy is from March 2 through May 11. Classes will be held on Mondays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Warner Robins Police Department, 100 Watson Boulevard. 

For more information on the Citizens Police Academy, contact Officer Greg Martin at gmartin@wrga.gov. To sign up, go to https://www.wrga.gov/o/police/page/community-events?fbclid=IwY2xjawQAKnZleHR