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div id="story_body" class="user_sized hnews hentry item" selected toolbarbuttontext="Photos" toolbarbuttonhref="#story_features" showtoolbarbutton="True" readability="54">Citizens Police Academy holds initial session

ENID The first session of Enid Police Department s Citizens Police Academy was held Tuesday night, with students getting an introduction to the chief and what the course will offer.

We are going to show you what we do, Chief Brian O Rourke said. There s a lot of things that go on in this town that the officers see and do that a lot of people don t know about.

O Rourke told the 13 students at the first meeting of the academy the purpose was to dispel some of the myths about what it is police officers do and increase the connection between law enforcement and the people of Enid.

A lot of what people think we do they get from TV, he said. A lot of them don t understand what we do and what we face.

Lt. Gary Fuxa, training officer for the department, said the academy will pull back the curtain on what police officers do while performing their duties.

There s a lot of misconceptions out there, he said, a lot of misinformation, myths out there.

Both O Rourke and Fuxa said one of the main goals of the academy is to improve relations with the community.

We need the community s support, Fuxa said.

The academy is free for Enid residents older than 18 and is scheduled for 13 weeks, with classes 6:30-9 p.m. Tuesdays. The academy allows residents to ride along with a police officer, fire weapons used by officers and SWAT members and hear from members of each of the department s divisions.

Each class is taught by members of the department, and students will get hands-on experience by conducting fingerprinting, learning defensive tactics, undergoing simulated firearms training and conducting a ride-along with an officer.

Doug Griffith, who manages a local convenience store, said he signed up for the academy because he s friends with many of the officers who come to his store and he wanted to learn more about what they do.

I really respect what they do, he said. That s why I came down here, to learn more.

Griffith said he was looking forward to the classes that had anything to do with hands-on activities.

You get a feel for a little bit of what it they do, he said.