Why do I want to attend the Citizen's Academy?

The Citizen's Academy starts next week.  I was talking to a coworker earlier this week and he asked me, "Why do you want to do that?"  And it dawned on me that I started this blog and haven't answered that question.  Doh!!!  (Gotta love Homer Simpson!)
 
Well, that's actually a good question.  You see, I have become quite the cop magnet lately so some might wonder why I would voluntarily walk in to the Sheriff's Office (or any Police Department for that matter).  Mind you, I have not involuntarily walked in either!  I have never been arrested (I should probably go knock on wood or something...) but I do tend to get stopped for traffic violations a lot!  Next Tuesday will be the first time I step foot in the Operations Building at the Sheriff's Office. 

I have been to the Civil Division before but that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me since I have a bad habit of not renewing my license plate tag on time.  (My tag is current in case any leo's are reading this!)  That habit caught up with me a few years ago when I had an encounter with one of their deputies who is specifically tasked with vehicle registration enforcement.  Oops!  (If it's possible to say I had a "good" encounter with a leo, I guess that encounter is it!)  In order to attend a Citizen's Academy you must live or work in the jurisdiction of the agency you want to attend.  So, because of my job I actually had the opportunity to choose from several agencies.  I ultimately applied to attend JCSO because it's on Tuesday night instead of Thursday that many of the other agencies offer  (Thursday night presents a conflict for me...)  but also because the positive interaction with the JCSO deputy got me interested in learning more about their office instead of a different department. 

Now that I have gotten sidetracked let's get back to the main reason why I am attending the Citizen's Academy.  I have worked in healthcare for over 20 years.  Most of that has been in Preventive Medicine.  I am a Certified Exercise Specialist and as part of my job responsibilities over the years I have been doing stress testing and physical agility testing on leo's.  Many times I have been asked to do a ride-a-long with a leo so that I would have a better understanding of their job.  I have declined to do it mostly because many of the previous interactions with leos' have been negative (traffic stops).  Last year, after going out and doing some testing at a local department the ride-a-long topic came up again.  Since I oversee our stress testing program I thought it might be a good idea if I comply with the request to do a ride-a-long.  The more I thought about it though, the more I wanted to learn about the job as a whole and not just traffic stops so I looked in to the idea of attending a citizens academy. 

Well, a year later my name finally came up.  I have many times wondered why someone would want to be a leo.  I have several friends that are leo's in different capacities.   I think it will be interesting to learn what they do.   I am looking forward to attending the Academy.  If you want to know what's included in a Citizen's Academy, check back weekly.  First class is next Tuesday.  I know if I don't blog about it one of my neighbors who is a leo will be harassing me.  What was I thinking telling her I was going to attend the academy?  :)