Participants of the Citizen’s Police Academy recieve their own badges. Photo by Mary Lind.
Today marks the start of the University of Rhode Island’s 10-week Citizen’s Police Academy in which participants will get
The program, run by Sergeant Erica Vieira of the URI Police Department, is in its fourth year. This year’s class is its biggest yet. This year there are 36 participants, as opposed to the usual 12. Vieira received over 50 applications for this year’s program.
“I love to mentor, I really do,” said Vieira, who has been on the force since 1988. While she enjoys coordinating the academy and being involved in the community, it takes quite a lot of work behind the scenes to put it all together.
Vieira’s office is currently filled with backpacks, vests and other equipment that the participants will be using throughout the program. She has spent the last few weeks getting all of the materials, putting them together and finding others to assist her with running the program and teaching lessons. However, she mostly does it by herself, in addition to her other duties as a sergeant and training her K-9 partner, Figaro, an explosives detection dog.
“I run it a little different than other people do,” Vieira said. “I try to make it more hands-on.”
Over the course of 10 weeks spread throughout the fall and spring semesters, participants, who are sorted into three platoons, ‘Alpha,’ ‘Bravo’ and ‘Charlie,’ will get to learn about different duties of police officers. Participants will, among other things, tour the Rhode Island State Crime Lab, which is located on campus, practice mock driving under the influence stops and do a firearms training simulation at the Cranston Police Department.
The academy is part of the URI Police Department’s community policing efforts. This strategy aims to get officers involved in the community through efforts like attending campus events and interacting with students outside of emergency calls.
“Across the country, a lot of departments are switching to a more, instead of reactive, [a] more proactive approach,” Vieira said. “We love our community and we’re involved in our community. We’re part of the community.”
Of the 36 participants this year, a handful are URI staff members, one is a faculty member, one is a member of the community and the rest are URI students.
Two of this year’s participants are a married couple and two are a set of brothers, according to Vieira.
“Of course, they’re not in the same platoon,” Vieira laughed. “I want them to experience it with new people. I think family members can be a crutch sometimes.”
Stacey Rippetoe, an assistant coach of the women’s rowing team at URI, is one of this year’s participants.
“I’m pretty psyched about it because I’ve always been interested [in law enforcement], in a way,” said Rippetoe. “You hope there’s a bunch of stuff that you never need to find out about, but it’s just kind of good to know how things work on the other side.”
Beyond getting to get a glimpse into the life of a police officer, Vieira said that participants will also graduate from the program having made lifelong friends.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Vieira said. “You build a camaraderie, you get lifelong friendships, and you learn a lot. You’re not actually doing the work, but you’re experiencing [it], you’re going through the motions.”