Lewiston Police Department Showcases VR Simulator During Citizen's Police Academy

The Lewiston Police Department is inviting you to learn all about what they do. Community members now have the opportunity to learn and experience firsthand what goes on within the Lewiston Police Department.

Lewiston Police Department Citizen's Academy Overview

The Lewiston Police Citizen Academy provides a mechanism for educating the public about the criminal justice system, crime prevention, and a means to strengthen the citizen/police partnership to make the community a better and safer place to live. The overall goals are to gain support and understanding of police work by explaining the operations of the Lewiston Police Department. It is our hope that participating citizens will gain a greater understanding of police work/procedures as opposed to the enforcement portrayed on television and in the movies.

Citizen's Academy Curriculum

The citizen's police academy curriculum includes an overview of:

• Crime scene investigation
• Drug enforcement
• The Enhanced 911 System
• The Police Department
• Pursuit driving
• Recruitment and training
• The School Resource Program
• TAC team/SWAT team
• Other agencies involved with the Lewiston Police Department

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In a recent interview with KLEW, Lewiston Police Department Captain Rick Fuentes had the following to say about the upcoming citizen's academy:

"Kind of show procedures and kind of go over a few policies and how we do things here at the Lewiston Police Department," Lewiston Police Capt. Rick Fuentes said.

Captain Fuentes will be conducting the Lewiston Citizen Police Academy starting in March.

Their goal for the academy is simple.

"We want to build a good community relationship with all of our citizens and people that come into the area," Capt. Fuentes said.

With that community focus in mind, Capt. Fuentes took feedback and made changes to make this 10-week course engaging.

"I wanted it to be more interactive. I wanted a lot more participation, so it wasn't death by PowerPoint," Capt. Fuentes said.

How Lewiston Police Department Utilizes Their VR Simulator

New equipment like this virtual reality training that made its citizen academy debut last year does just that.

"The new simulator that we have here at the police department, we had all those people participate in different scenarios and just seeing their reaction on how they would handle a call versus how a police officer would handle a call," Capt. Fuentes said.

Academy students will also meet LPD's K-9 units and members of their SWAT team and do mock traffic stops and crime scenes.

"From just average citizen contact to something that might be more severe, a lot of them just didn't realize. One, that's how we have to deal with certain things and two that, that type of activity, criminal activity, or just day-to-day activity happens in Lewiston," Capt. Fuentes said.

While it's Lewiston’s Citizen Police Academy, Captain Fuentes says anyone can apply for this free course.

"We have people that impact this area, that live in the surrounding area. Kendrick, Juliaetta, Clarkston, or just outside the city limits those have reached out. ‘Can I participate?’ And the answer is yes because they do impact our city," Capt. Fuentes said.

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Sign Up for Lewiston Police Department's Citizen's Academy

The citizen police academy is every Tuesday from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the training center on 16th Avenue, starting March 21 through May 30.

Applications need to be hand-delivered, mailed, or emailed to LPD, and they need to be received by March 7.

There are only 20-25 spaces, and it's on a first-come-first-served basis.

Applications

The attendees will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. You may pick up an application at the Lewiston Police Department or click on the link below to download. The applications can be hand-delivered or mailed to the Lewiston Police Department at:

You can apply for the LPD Citizen's academy here: https://www.cityoflewiston.org/FormCenter/Police-13/Citizen-Academy-Application-79