The East Hampton Town Citizen Police Academy objective is to promote a better relationship between the Police Department and the community it serves. It is anticipated that a clearer understanding of a police officer's duties and how an officer carries out those duties will result in a better understanding of the officer's actions. The citizen recruits are asked to "walk in the shoes of a police officer" through a series of lectures, films, hands-on use of equipment, simulations, role plays, and problem solving.

The instructors are comprised of East Hampton Town Police Officers, and are augmented by guest speakers from other agencies, including the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, the Suffolk County Sheriff's Department and the East Hampton Town Justice Court.

The thirteen-week program was devised and implemented by East Hampton Town Police . The program emphasizes how a fifty-man police department operates in a rural community which is less than a hundred miles from one of the largest cities in the world.

Throughout the thirteen weeks, lectures discuss the Department's organization, the laws of arrest, search and seizure, the handling of juveniles, the DARE program in the local schools, domestic violence, and the court system.

Simulations are a popular way for the citizen recruits to best understand the role of the police officer. The recruits observe a simulated Driving While Intoxicated arrest: a recruit plays the role of the intoxicated driver and a police officer makes the traffic stop and the subsequent arrest. The process is conducted in slow motion so that the citizen recruits are able to stop the action to ask questions. This allows them to gain a better understanding of what a Driving While Intoxicated arrest entails.

A simulated crime scene is set up by the East Hampton Town Police Detective Division, whereby the citizen recruits are given instruction on interviewing techniques, evidence gathering, crime scene preservation and photographing, and dusting for prints. The new "officers" then apply their newfound knowledge to the simulated crime scene in a hands-on effort to solve the crime.

Hands-on instruction enhances the Highway Patrol segment, where radar is shown and used.

A narcotics investigation takes on a real life when someone is wired for a simulated drug deal and observed and photographed through a night lens camera.

The Academy also includes a "Ride-Along Night," during which a recruit responds to patrol assignments with a police officer, under the direction of a patrol supervisor.

The Suffolk County Police Department Firearms Training Simulator gives the recruits firsthand experience of an officer's response to a high stress situation, where they must decide whether or not to shoot.

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department provides a tour of the County jail, and a lecture.

On the last night of instruction, the Academy recruits are guided through a series of role plays during which they are the police officers, while actors play the parts of perpetrators and crime victims. The recruits attempt to apply their newfound knowledge, actually walking in a police officer's shoes.

Upon completion of the program, recruits attend a graduation ceremony at which they receive a certificate from Chief Todd Sarris. Their families and Town dignitaries are invited as guests to the ceremony.

 

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The East Hampton Town Police Department started the Citizen Police Academy Program in 1995, as an annual class. There have been forty-four civilian graduates. In 1996, LTV, the local cable television station began broadcasting the Academy classes.

The Citizen Police Academy has received acclaim from the local community and has increased the awareness of police functions in the Town of East Hampton. Through the Citizen Police Academy graduates and the local television broadcasts of the classes, a trust has been established between the people of the Town and their Police department.