The Wixom, Novi, Walled Lake, Wolverine Lake, and South Lyon Police Departments have created the Lakes Area Citizen’s Police Academy. This Academy is a 30 hour block of instruction designed to give the public a working knowledge of the police department’s personnel and policies. It is a series of classes held once a week for three hours.  The instruction covers a different area of the police department every week for ten weeks and also includes a graduation. The Academy is held twice a year, in the spring and in the fall.

Attendance

The class is made up of a cross-section of the five communities. Anyone 18 years and over may enroll – the only requirement is that you must live or work in the cities of Wixom, Novi, Walled Lake, South Lyon or the Village of Wolverine Lake.

Purpose

The Lakes Area Citizen’s Police Academy was created in order to provide enough information to the citizens that attend so that they are able to make informed judgments about the police department and police activity. The instructors hope to increase public awareness about the police department and to increase police/community rapport through this educational process. The department, in turn, becomes more aware of the feelings and concerns of the community from the students’ interaction and input. It is a two-way learning process.

Topics

The Lakes Area Citizen’s Police Academy covers such diverse topics as training, communications, criminal investigation, drunk driving procedures, crime prevention, family violence, juvenile law and the tactical team. Emphasis is placed on the patrol division as that is the segment of the police department the public most often comes in contact with. Instruction consists of lectures, tours, demonstrations and hands-on experiences.

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