It doesn’t make them police officers, but it sure gives them a greater understanding of what law enforcers do. 

Ten members of the public graduated in May from West Valley City Police Department’s Citizens Academy. 

They gathered Wednesday nights over a span of 10 weeks to learn from police personnel what they do on a daily basis, why they do it, and the training and attention to detail that go into it.

The participants come from all backgrounds. Some are grandparents. A couple of people are civilian employees of the police department wanting to know about what their sworn colleagues do. There was a city councilman and a 17-year-old boy considering a possible law enforcement career. 

They all had a common interest in wanting to know more about how the West Valley Police Department functions, particularly its officers who patrol Utah’s second-largest city.  

“We expose them to firearms, SWAT, K-9s, to patrol operations. We also introduce them to the case flow that goes through the detective unit,” said Sgt. Gabriel Bier, who conducted the academy. 

Academy participants learned—hands-on in some cases—police department operations and tactics to address a variety of situations officers are trained to encounter. They fired weapons at a shooting range, and some even volunteered to be on the receiving end of a taser. They sat next to dispatchers and call-takers at the Salt Lake Valley Emergency Communications Center as they took emergency and nonemergency calls and dispatched, coordinated and tracked a countywide network of police, firefighters and paramedics responding to those calls.  

“This is to create a relationship in our community. This is designed to help us teach the citizens what it is we do, why we do things a certain way, and maybe increase the understanding that they have for our profession,” Bier added.

The sergeant also hopes that what is learned in the Citizens Academy will let people know that what they read, see and hear on the news is only part of the story when something like an officer-involved shooting or other use of force occurs. “These individuals understand that it’s not appropriate to rush to judgment until all of the facts are on the table and the investigation has been concluded,” Bier said. 

Brady Nelson is a West Valley City native. That, as well as his longtime respect for law enforcement, and the fact that his wife is an assistant to Police Chief Colleen Jacobs piqued his interest in getting an inside look at how officers do their jobs. So he signed up for this spring’s Academy.

“The insight you gain, seeing just how professional, efficient, and proficient the different (police department divisions) are, just made it even more impressive how amazing the West Valley PD is,” Nelson said. “Getting an inside look through the Citizens Academy has been probably one of the greatest things I’ve been able to do in recent years.” 

Another participant in the academy came at it from a different perspective. Michael Finch is a member of West Valley City’s Professional Standards Review Board, which reviews citizen complaints, use-of-force occurrences, and vehicle pursuits involving the police department. “I’ve learned how well-trained West Valley City police officers are,” he said. “It’s just blown me away.” 

That training and other standards led to the police department earning an advanced level of accreditation in 2021 by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, the first department in Utah to achieve the recognition. 

“To see what officers deal with every day that they strap up and clock in is just amazing,” Nelson said. “My respect and admiration for them has gone off the charts.”  

The next Citizens Academy will be held in the fall. λ