Locals learn at police Citizens Academy

The nine-week course offered by Brentwood police that just finished its fourth week sees the department open its doors, pull back the curtain and show those who registered and got into the program how the department operates – from a full tour of the department building on Brentwood Boulevard, lecture series on things like patrol operations, how the department handles citizen complaints, and records, to training explanations like how police prepare for and handle active shooter, or critical incident, situations, and showing how officers train for tough situations with the simulator that mimics certain situations.

At the end of each session, the participants fill out a reflection sheet detailing what they like and didn’t like or wanted more of from the course.

“It gives me a little bit more background,” Aguilar said.

“If there was no age limit, absolutely,” said Yvette Gomez on whether or not this program would make her want to be a cop. “It definitely educates you on what routes you can take and not just being on the street, but also there’s a lot behind the scenes that play a big part in the entire department.”

While the Citizens Academy has inspired some to possibly want to get involved with police work and law enforcement, there are still those who are interested in what goes on in the department, but wouldn’t want to be cops.

Best friends Sally Allison-Goddard and Jenny Shirk, both long-time Brentwood residents and both a part of the Neighborhood Watch, are happy that they’re taking part in the Citizens Academy. But they said, without elaboration, that the program isn’t pushing them to want to join the department.

“There’s really informative things that I wouldn’t even think about,” Goddard said. “The little details really clarify what the backside of the whole police department is.

“There are some interesting things,” Shirk said. “I think there are people in here who potentially want to encourage more people to do it because they’re learning about the different positions and stuff.”

In a time of public distrust in police nationally, students said the Brentwood Police Citizens Academy tries to go the extra step to bridge the gap and be as transparent as possible to the public. A Gallup poll from 2022 found that just 45% of surveyed Americans are confident in the police nationwide.

“It could bridge the gap,” Rachel Hawkins, another participant, said about the importance of the Citizens Academy. “It’s huge. There’s so much that I did not know that police officers go through. But attending this meeting, learning what the police do and all the different departments, it opened my eyes to look at them differently.”

Sgt. Miguel Aguilar was a speaker during one of the earlier sessions of Citizens Academy who explained in detail how the department handles citizens’ complaints.

“Communication’s huge,” Aguilar said. “If you’re communicating with the members of your community, they will better understand the operating principles and how you do business. Then you get to hear feedback as to what works or doesn’t work. So I think communication is huge.

“I think this is a great forum. It gives people a chance to kind of hear a different perspective and for us to give them information that they can share.”