Jasper County to offer free, eight-week Citizens Academy as of Sept. 15

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Jasper County residents will get a direct look at the daily realities of police work when the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office kicks off its free, eight-week Citizens Academy on Sept. 15. 

The free, eight-week program meets Tuesday evenings, putting civilians directly alongside deputies to learn the day-to-day realities of modern police work.

Jasper County Sheriff Randee Kaiser told NewsTalk KZRG."The main goal is for us to be able to have citizens of the county, of our community, get a deeper understanding of what it is that we do on a day-to-day basis." 

"We're better off when the community's involved in what law enforcement goes through every day and sees that firsthand,” Kaiser said.

Most classroom sessions meet at the sheriff’s office on the Carthage square, but participants will spend multiple evenings out in the field. The schedule features a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the County 911 Dispatch Center, a tour of the Jasper County Jail, and specialized presentations with detectives from the drug task force and cybercrimes unit.

Attendees will also step onto an interactive use-of-force simulator to work through high-stress, real-time tactical decisions.

"People have a better understanding of use of force when they get to be on a simulator and they get to experience that for themselves—that decision-making process and how fast all that moves," Sheriff Kaiser told NewsTalk KZRG.

The hands-on look aims to bridge the disconnect between local citizens and the men and women who patrol their neighborhoods.

"Deputies are just members of the community," Sheriff Kaiser told NewsTalk KZRG. "They're ordinary citizens of the community that happen to have a job that requires them to do certain things. But the reality of it is, we want what's best for the community as much as everybody else does."

The academy is open to anyone 18 and older from Jasper County and surrounding areas. Applicants must clear a basic background check before admission.

Rosters fill quickly. Anyone who misses out on the fall roster will be placed on a waiting list for the spring academy. 

Registration details and contact instructions for Sgt. Craig Davis are available on the Jasper County Sheriff's Office Facebook page