Enrollment Open for Sebastian County Citizens Academy

SCSO Press Release:
The Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office is offering a Citizens Academy to residents 18 and older who work or reside in Sebastian County, that are interested in learning more about law enforcement operations and the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office internal processes. The classes will start on Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 6 pm.
The basic goal of the Citizens Academy is to improve law enforcement/community relations through a formalized educational process.
The Citizens Academy will present a wide range of topical training subjects condensed from the standard training curriculum of sheriff’s deputies. By presenting this program, we hope to provide a broad educational experience which will acquaint attending citizens with the mission of sheriff’s personnel and the requirements of law to which officers must conform while carrying out their prescribed duties.
Through attendance and participation in the Citizens Academy:
•Citizens will be able to make more informed judgments about the Sheriff’s Office and law enforcement activities.
•The Sheriff’s Office will become more aware of the feelings and concerns of the community, as expressed by attending citizens.
•Citizens and Sheriff’s representatives will have an opportunity to explore together, some of the traditional suspicions and misconceptions generally harbored by both citizens and sheriff’s deputies. Through open discussion of such suspicions and misconceptions, a more harmonious climate for relationships may be established.
The Academy will consist of 8 weeks of sessions that meet once a week, on Thursday evenings, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Each week will feature a different aspect of the Sheriff’s Office, including tours of the adult and juvenile detention facilities, 9-1-1 Center, Courts Building, demonstrations by the SWAT team and K-9 unit, and many hands-on classes such as CSI, taser, and Shoot-Don’t-Shoot scenarios. Additonally, participants will also have a day at the range with our SWAT team.
The classes will be held at the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office, located at 800 South A. Street Fort Smith, AR 2901, in the training classroom.
Interested candidates are asked to complete an application and background check to determine if they are eligible for the program. 20 participants will be chosen that will represent a cross-section of the Sebastian County community.
For an application or for more information about the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office Citizens Academy, contact Linda Williams, 479-783-1051 or by Email: [email protected]. Deadline for all applications to be considered for this year’s academy is August 31, 2018.