Citizens Police Academy graduates inaugural class

Citizens Police Academy graduates inaugural class

BY LINDSEY FIELDER
Rice News staff

Appreciation: an expression of admiration or gratitude. Both these feelings were articulated many times over last week at the graduation celebration for the very first Rice University Citizens Police Academy (CPA).

Photo by Jeff Fitlow

Rice University Police Sgt. Jim Baylor addresses the first class of the Rice Citizens Police Academy at the April 19 graduation ceremony. Academy participants each took the podium to express the appreciation they now have for the work that Rice officers do to keep the campus safe. After 15 weeks of three-hour sessions, academy participants gained insight into how the police patrol Rice and how they protect dignitaries during campus visits.

Admiration was expressed for the work that Rice police officers take on as stewards of the campus and for the daily risk their job involves. Gratitude was expressed for the time police officers take to be up-to-date on the latest crime prevention technology and for the time the Rice officers take out of their busy schedules to impart their knowledge to interested citizens.

Academy participant Nancy Carrasco, staff assistant in the Office of the President, said she got a firsthand look at what it takes to be a police officer at Rice. “I appreciate the dedication of our police department, which prides itself in having the best officers and equipment to protect the Rice community,” she said. “I think it’s important for everyone to realize what police officers endure on a day-to-day basis. I now can understand what officers experience every time they approach a car or a person on the street.”

A CPA allows citizens to get a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a police department and its officers. With a few months of weekly training sessions, citizens gain insight into what it takes to keep their communities safe.

Sgt. Jim Baylor of the Rice Police Department (RUPD) was the force behind the Rice CPA. “I was skeptical of CPAs at first,” he said. “I was always of the mindset that a little bit of knowledge can be very dangerous for most civilians.”

After sitting in on a CPA in Sugar Land and consulting other police departments about their programs, Baylor became a believer once he saw how useful these programs are for outreach and education in the community.

“The biggest benefit of a program like this is peer education,” he said. “Especially here at Rice, the more people who understand what we do, the better. The people who go through this program then go out and are basically spokespersons for the police department. They can explain to their friends why officers do what they do.”

RUPD Chief Bill Taylor said he was skeptical that anyone would even be interested in attending the program — and be dedicated to it. “[The first CPA class’] commitment has really set the tone for the future of this program,” he said, addressing the inaugural class of the Rice CPA. “You guys have proven that this program needs to continue.”

As participants in the first Rice CPA, staff, students and community members went through the same type of training police officers have to go through before they step into the blue uniform. “This is the exact same training as in the actual police academy,” Baylor said. “The only thing the participants didn’t have to do was learn the penal code.”

Many Rice police officers were involved, lending their expertise as instructors in various portions of the class. Baylor put together the curriculum, which included sessions on such topics as hostage situations, patrol procedures, dignitary protection, confiscated weapons and fingerprints. At optional weekend sessions, participants had the opportunity to shoot actual police weapons at a firing range (after attending a gun safety course), assess a crime scene and make various simulated traffic stops.

Carrasco said her experience at the firing range was intense. “It was a bit scary because after you fire the weapon, you realize just how powerful a gun is and what damage it can do,” she said. “The instructors handled the situation with extreme caution and professionalism. They made sure we remained safe at all times.”

After 15 weeks of three-hour sessions, the graduates all expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to go through this experience. Stan Druck, a resident of the Southgate neighborhood, said he had taken many educational programs at Rice, and the CPA was truly an elite university program.

Philip Tracadas, a research programmer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said he was impressed with the diversity of participants. “I don’t think many programs can bring together the different groups on campus like this program has,” he said. “This is unlike any other program at Rice.”

To find out when the next CPA will take place, e-mail Baylor at <baylor@rice.edu>.