{"id":183308,"date":"2022-03-30T00:01:15","date_gmt":"2022-03-30T04:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=183308"},"modified":"2022-03-31T15:52:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:52:42","slug":"citizens-police-academy-open-at-uconn-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2022\/03\/citizens-police-academy-open-at-uconn-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizen\u2019s Police Academy Open at UConn Health"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Participants
A use of force demonstration with simulated firearms is part of the curriculum in the UConn Police citizen’s police academy. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later this spring, the UConn Police Department is offering its citizen\u2019s police academy at UConn Health.<\/p>\n

Members of the UConn Health community are invited to take part in this six-week program that will meet on campus Wednesday evenings from 5 to 7 p.m. starting May 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was interesting to learn about the community-based style of policing embraced by our UConn police force and how genuinely invested they are in this approach,\u201d says Stephanie Rauch, biomedical science program coordinator in the UConn Health Graduate School, who took part in the citizen\u2019s police academy pilot at UConn Health last year.<\/p>\n

The idea behind it is promote a better understanding of police practices and the services UConn police provide, offering a glimpse into the police department and officers\u2019 daily experiences.<\/p>\n

\"student
A member of the 2021 pilot UConn Health citizen’s police academy attempts a balance test while wearing goggles that simulate intoxication. (Photo by Deb Abromaitis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur goal is to create an opportunity for personal interaction that builds trust and allows the community the chance to see policing through the lens of the officer,\u201d says Deputy Chief Maggie Silver. \u201cIt will enable the officer to also understand citizens’ points of view in many aspects of policing. It is a mutual collaboration with the objective of enhancing police and community relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Topics covered include officer training, patrol procedures, special unit operations, criminal investigations, evidentiary services, proactive policing efforts, and a use of force session, which includes an optional interactive firearms simulation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really happy to be able to see things explained from an officer\u2019s point of view,\u201d says pilot graduate Alexander Schwarz, assistant director of the Office of Logistics Management. \u201cSituations unfold rapidly and it was eye-opening to understand what officers deal with on a daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the instructors are officers and supervisors who patrol the campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so very fortunate to have a police department on campus,\u201d says pilot graduate Debra Abromaitis, title. \u201cLearning more about what they do, how they do it, and hearing how much they truly care was so interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Officer
Officer J.B. O’Reilly instructs the June 2021 UConn Health citizen’s police academy pilot class. (Photo by Chris DeFrancesco)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to meeting several officers, attendees can expect to spend some time with Carson, a Lab-golden crossbreed trained as a support dog for crime victims and people with disabilities \u2014 and a favorite of the pilot class.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was wonderful to spend some quality time around with our campus\u2019s own Officer Carson (and his human, our course instructor Officer JB O\u2019Reilly),\u201d Rauch says. \u201cI think he is a fantastic addition to the community; one can\u2019t help but be charmed by his sweet disposition and perhaps rethink one\u2019s concept of what police and community interactions can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spring 2022 session is open to any members of the UConn Health community, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those interested should email PDStartTeam@uconn.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following success in Storrs and a pilot in Farmington last year, the UConn Police Department is offering its citizen\u2019s police academy to the UConn Health community May through June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":111,"featured_media":183311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2010],"class_list":["post-183308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-26 00:25:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183308"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183734,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183308\/revisions\/183734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/183311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183308"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=183308"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=183308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}