POLICE BUSINESS

Portland Police hope civilian academy improves relations

By Noah Bruce

Warning: potentially pretentious Plato reference follows.

In his Republic, Plato outlined his version of a utopian city. Sitting at the top of his city’s social structure were the Guardians of the City. Only the crème de la crème, those with souls of platinum, could aspire to be Guardians, and they were rewarded with prestige and the admiration of the whole city.

Now compare that to the role of our Guardians — the cops. It’s not terribly difficult to become a police officer, they’re not well paid considering many officers put their lives on the line every day (starting pay in Portland: $24,897), and they don’t get much respect. Aside from the repo man, lawyers, or the IRS, there are few professions more unpopular in the public eye than being a cop.

To combat this PR problem, the Portland Police Department is creating a citizen police academy. The 11-week course will meet once a week for two hours and cover topics like evidence collection, police procedures for handling situations, and decision making. A particularly exciting portion of the course will entail using the firearm training simulator (FATS). Utilizing video and laser technology, the simulator puts participants in the role of a police officer who must make a spilt second decision whether to shoot or not. The simulator shows a “person who might pull out a wallet or might pull out a weapon,” says Lt. Ted Ross who is coordinating the course.

The course “gives people a different perspective on policing,” says Ross “It’s a tool for building better community relations.”

The civilian academy is aimed at adults over the age of 21. However, the Portland Police Department has run the Law Enforcement Explorer program since May, which targets youths aged 15 to 20. In addition to opening up the sometimes constricted communication lines between youth and the cops, this program also serves to recruit potential police officers.

If you’re interested in the civilian police academy call Lt. Ted Ross at 874-8569.