The Moorhead Police Department’s 25th Citizens Police Academy graduated 23 local residents Nov. 18. )Photo/MPD.)

Twenty-three Moorhead men and women graduated from the city’s 25th Citizens Police Academy last month.

The ten-week program was begun in 1995 by Chief Les Sharrock, who died Nov. 27. It was originally directed by Sgt. Grant Weyland, who later succeeded Sharrock as chief, and continued under subsequent Chiefs David Edlinger and Shannon Monroe. It is currently directed by Community Policing Coordinator Leann Wallin and Capt. Deric Swenson.

The CPA, says Wallin, “is an exact example of our philosophy of community policing philosophy.” It offers citizens, who apply for admission and participate in 10 three-hour sessions, an opportunity to participate in the department’s partnership with the community and ask officers the hard questions, in the words of Assistant Chief Tory Jacobson, who previously helped lead the program.

Participants meet and hear from officers working across the entire range of policing, from patrol officers to detectives. The sessions include trips to the Red River SWAT headquarters and the Moorhead firing range, as well as talks by everyone from canine officers to drug and gang investigators and the records division. Use-of-force guidelines, DWI enforcement and youth programs are also part of the curriculum.

Tuition is free and open to Moorhead residents 18 and older. The 2022 session is scheduled from Sept. 15 through Nov. 17. For more information, go to cityofmoorhead.com and search “Citizens Police Academy.”