South Bend Police opens applications for next Citizens Police Academy

SOUTH BEND — Applications are open for the fall session of the South Bend Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy.

The purpose of the academy is to give the public a closer look at the inner-workings of the police department.

Sgt. Jarveair Bourn, who assists with organizing the academy and its speakers, said the biggest takeaway for residents is to understand how units within the police department operate.

“Typically, residents don’t have a complete understanding of the way different units around the department operate,” Bourn said. “This helps them get a clear understanding.”

Participants will receive hands-on interactive lessons from various units of the department, including:

• Patrol

• SWAT team

• Crime Scene Technicians

• Bomb Squad

• Hostage/Crisis Negotiators

• K9 Unit

• Real-Time Crime Center

• Narcotics Enforcement

• Detective Bureau

• Communications

The Citizens Police Academy provides the opportunity to meet officers and to hear about the work they do in their unit. They break down what their unit does on a day-to-day basis, Bourn said, while also sharing how their work affects different things in the city.

Mychael Winston, the director of Goodwill SAVE Outreach, believes knowledge is power.

He, along with his colleagues from the SAVE Outreach team, graduated from the Citizens Police Academy in May 2024 and now implement what they’ve learned to further their mission of reducing gun violence in the community.

Being able to engage in the Citizens Police Academy was huge for Winston, he said.

The academy allowed him to see different units of the police department, to see the process of how they work and to walk away with a bigger understanding of law enforcement, Winston said.

“A lot of time, our entire viewpoint of law enforcement is based on TV or maybe interactions that were more punitive,” he said.

Through punitive interactions, such as getting pulled over, Winston said, some people don’t get the chance to see the human side of what’s going on.

For his team, the experience was valuable, he said.

“I felt more competent about what’s going on or what it means to be on that side of things,” he said.

The Citizens Police Academy strengthened Winston’s ability to communicate when working with the community to create preventative measures against gun violence.

“A lot of things people do because they’re misinformed or they’re uninformed,” he said.

He’s able to take the knowledge he learned in the academy to perhaps shift the perspective of the people he meets.

Some people might not have a level of trust with law enforcement to be able to reach out to them for information, Winston said.

He’s able to educate them through what he’s learned and “bridge the gap,” he said.

“If you can give someone a good job, a good education (or) good training, these things can prevent gun violence,” Winston said.

The fall academy runs for nine weeks, from Aug 13 to Oct 8, at the South Bend Police Department, 701 W. Sample St. The academy takes place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays.

Participants, 18 or older, can take advantage of the free program by filling out an application and agreeing to a criminal background check. Applications can be submitted through email at jbourn@southbendin.gov or by dropping it off at the department’s headquarters.

Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Citizens Police Academy helps educate the community about police work