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Citizen Academy
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Citizen Academy
JSO's 2009 Citizen Academy is now Accepting Applications for the Spring 2009 class, dates to be determined. There are two The first class began March 11 and concludes on May 27, 2008. The class meets every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The second class begins Sept. 11 and concludes Dec. 4. The class meets every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This class has been filled, and JSO is only accepting applications for the Spring 2009 Class. To apply for the Spring 2009 class only, click here or call Officer Leavens at the Northeast Florida Regional Training Center (Academy) at (904) 713-4900. Or send a letter to: By Jay Magee, North Florida Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (North Florida PRSA) Vice President, Programs Just two things – Lauri-Ellen Smith and a gun. For the record, the gun wasn't pointed at me, and I never wanted to use it on Lauri-Ellen. Looking back on my 12 weeks in the academy, which wrapped up April 3, I'm enormously grateful to Lauri-Ellen, a chapter member and special assistant to Sheriff Rutherford, who urged me to register. All I wanted at first was to ride along with an officer, to shake me out of my suburban comfort zone and show me a world I'd only seen watching "COPS." I knew she could hook me up with that, but Lauri-Ellen had different plans. Citizen's Academy is a warp-speed blast through every division of the JSO, hosted every spring and fall and open to all citizens (assuming you survive the background check). There are classroom seminars, narcotics, SWAT and bomb squad demos, and exotic "field trips" to the jail, prison/work camp and firing range. That brings me to the second reason I signed up – a gun. In addition to the more observer-driven activities, I fired a magazine of 15 rounds from a JSO-standard .40 cal. Glock semi-automatic. Overwhelmed and thrilled to hit my target on 12 of 15 rounds, I absolved myself from lingering embarrassment at summer camp rifelery class 20 years ago. I'll be merciful and spare you the details. I also got that ride along, too—a 12-hour Saturday hopscotch through northwest Jacksonville. I saw a stabbing victim, wrote and proofread (of course) the officer's arrest report and saw newborn puppies rescued from a gang of unruly 8-year-olds! Through it all, I rediscovered respect for the men and women who protect us day and night, and who unfortunately get skewered in the media all too often for doing their jobs. If there's a PR goal for this program, it is to highlight and celebrate these individuals and the JSO at a grassroots, word-of-mouth level. Apparently, they picked just the right loudmouthed, loose-fingers-at-the-keyboard PR guy for the job. Take a shot, like I did, and try something new with Citizen's Academy. Fall classes begin September 13 and will run Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. through early December (excluding Thanksgiving). Best of all, it's free. For more information, contact Officer Cindy Leavens at Cindy.Leavens@jaxsheriff.org. ###
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