Tonight was the first night of the free twelve-week Citizen’s Police Academy put on by the West Fargo Police Department and led by Officer Rhonda Jorgensen.  There are 13 civilians in the class, including myself, with eight women and five men (which surprised me).

Tonight’s class was an introduction, with a bit of paperwork (releases and personal information forms) and a brief speech from Chief of Police Arland Rasmussen.  This was followed by a tour of the police station and a run-through of some of the equipment in squad cars.  We were also shown the equipment an officer wears on his patrol belt, including a Taser, collapsable baton and service weapon (a “.40 caliber Glock” which I assume was the 23, though I didn’t ask).

Next week we are scheduled to perform traffic stops, with officers volunteering as subjects (meaning we get to drive the patrol cars!).  If the weather is too bad — and I’m not sure how bad is “too bad” — we will swap Weeks 2 and 3 and get our introduction to firearms next week, and perform traffic stops during Week 3.