The Alexander City Outlook

18 finish citizen’s academy

Sixty-one-year-old Wylone Brewer never thought she would intentionally drop 60 feet to a cement foundation, but two weeks ago that’s what she did.

She and 17 other local residents finished a rapelling course at an Alexander City fire station. The class was just one of several the group completed during the first ever public safety citizens academy in Alexander City.

During the 10-week long program, participants took part in several courses to learn about daily operations in the city’s fire and police departments. Tuesday they graduated from the program in a brief ceremony held in the courtroom inside the Alexander City Police Department.

“It was a very fun learning experience,” said Betsy Hodo who graduated from the program. “There is a lot more that goes on behind the scenes in both the fire department and the police department than I ever realized.”

Hodo said the most enlightening experience she had in the course was when she rode along with an officer through the night.

“They do a lot more than I thought they did,” Hobo said. “(Now) I’m just a lot more aware of the problems that go on in our community. I’m not as naive. I lock my doors at night.”

In addition to repelling and taking part in the ride-along, participants also practiced inserting an IV into a dummy’s arm, received firearms training and learned about basic fire hazards and safety precautions. They also took part in several other courses throughout the program.

Police academies take place in communities across the country, but the Alexander City program was different because it not only included courses about police, but it also included courses about the firefighters and paramedics.

“We include all aspects of public safety and I think that’s what makes our program different,” Alexander City Police Chief Charles Rafford said. “The class members are exposed to a wide variety of the tasks we do every day. It is designed to make the community aware of what we do.”

Rafford said the program benefits the department too. It allows the police department to increase community-policing efforts and to recruit potential officers.

He added that the program’s success exceeded his expectations.

“I think the program went very well. I was very pleased with the number of applicants,” Rafford said. “I was very pleased with the enthusiasm of our class.”

Officials at the fire department agreed. They said the level of interest participants showed throughout the course surprised them.

“The response has been great,” said Lt. Jeff Brewer, a training officer with the fire department. “We have heard comments from these people for the past several weeks. They are telling their friends and family and now they want to do it too.”