Sapulpa Police Dept. Offering Police Academy Outreach Program For Citizens

People who live in Sapulpa will have a chance to see what it is like to be a police officer.

Starting next month the city is offering a 14-week citizens police academy. They'll learn what it is like to make a traffic stop, responding to 911 calls, and they'll have some time out at the gun range.

“We’ll do some practical scenarios where they’ll get to put themselves in the position of police officers, we’ll show them some of the training our officers go through, and actually allow them to participate," said Major Philip Diehl.

Major Diehl said this is the first time in 13 years the department has offered the class and it's important now more than ever. 

“We have to be a part of our community and I think anything we can do like this that builds bridges between the police department and the community is actually going to make everyone safer. I live in this community, a number of our police officers live in this community I think we just all want to work together," said Major Diehl.

The class will meet once a week for 14 weeks. They'll use the shoot, don't shoot simulator to see how officers make split-second, life-and-death decisions will learn about the daily operations, and one class will be spent at the gun range.

 “It’s beneficial to everyone if they have a better understanding of what we do, how our officers are trained, the reasons behind some of our procedures, why we do certain things the way we do them that might not just be common sense to someone who hasn’t been in this position or had this perspective," said Major Diehl.

He said a lot has changed since 2009, so even if you've already taken the class, there are a lot of new things to learn. 

“It’ll be a little old, a little new, and each time we do one of these academies we’ll try to learn and improve so that the next group gets an even better experience," said Diehl.

Academy seats are limited and applications need to be sent in by April 11th. Call 918-227-5199 or email cjeffries@sapulpapd.gov to reserve your slot.