Welcome to my notebook

My name is Avi S. Adelman, and I am a member of the Dallas Police Department's Citizen's Police Academy, Class #26.

For the next eight weeks, I and nearly 30 other Dallas residents will be part of a unique and informative program operated by the Dallas Police Departments Personnel and Development Division.

UPDATE 6.17 - I will be posting notes from Sessions 6 and 7 later this week. Graduation is next week, preceeded by a class on how to deal officers deal with mental health issues. At this evening's class, I was 'elected' class president, which means I will give a short speech at graduation next week, and represent this class at the Citizen's Police Academy Alumni Association. I am very excited about working with the Alumni group and helping increase interest in the Citizen's Academy.

Quoting from the DPD's website -

Have you ever wondered how a Dallas Police Officer is trained?

At the Citizen’s Police Academy, you will have the opportunity to see and hear first hand the overwhelming curriculum recruits must master before they can wear the uniform of the Dallas Police Department.

Your instructors will be real police officers. They will take you on an accelerated overview of the various operations of the Dallas Police Department.

It’s our goal to increase understanding of police work and to develop effective police/community partnerships.

Each week, I will post the course description, learning objectives and my notes and photographs about that class. While I will try to include the names of all the DPD officers who are giving their time to 'train' us, I will use discretion when identifying other members of the class.

This site is not a live blog; I will not be updating it from the classroom in real time. But I will post updates and comments here within a day or two after the classs.

My notes will be as I write them during class and not as elaborate statements on the issue being discussed. When possible, I will include photos from the class sessions.

You can also submit your questions or comments to me by clicking on the CONTACT ME page.

About the Citizen's Police Academy

The DPD holds two academy classes each year (Spring and Fall), but in previous years there were three sessions. There have been 650+ 'graduates' since the first class was held in 1993 (and yes, there is an alumni association). Some participants used this class to get a sample of what the DPD training program was like, then eventually joined the department.

Most participants have some kind of working or community relationship with the Dallas Police Department.

In my case, I am the vice-president of the Belmont Neighborhood Association (Lower Greenville), a crimewatch coordinator, a community activist, and I publish a website - Daily Crime Report - that distributes DPD Incident Reports information by email to thousands of Dallas residents every morning.

In this class, we have a cross-section of residents. For example...

• Two recent 'graduates' of Dallas Fire/Rescue's Citizens Fire Academy
• Two members of the City's Police Review Board
• Two students (husband/wife) from the Parker School of Chiropractic
• A retired 911 operator
• A large number of crimewatch members or neighborhood association officers

This is not a complete list of everyone's background, but you get the idea.

The purpose of this website

Important note - Due to my schedule, updates will not be posted until at least the Saturday after each class

I think it's important that as many citizens as possible take the time to understand what the Dallas Police Department - or any other police department, for that matter - goes through to recruit, screen, train and certify the officers we deal with on a daily basis.

Not everyone can take this class, and that's why I created this website.

Some of us have only a few encounters with a police officer in our entire lifetime. We may not always enjoy getting that speeding ticket, but if that is our only encounter with an officer, that event - unpleasant or friendly - will shape how we view officers for many years.

Those of us who interact with DPD officers during crimewatch or similar programs have a different, even more personal, view of what these officers do on a daily basis.

I am not saying that every single officer is perfectly trained or even knows how to use all the skills he learned. Their training does not stop once they leave the Basic Academy; they begin six months of on-the-street training with a beat officer (a certified field trainer) who grades them every single day.

And every two years, all DPD officers take state-mandated courses to keep them current on legal issues, equipment, and tactics.

It costs more than $70,000 to train a Dallas Police Officer (34 weeks of Basic Academy and 24 weeks of field training). More officers from Dallas pass the state-mandated police officer test than any other city in Texas.

Think of the Citizen's Academy as the view from 30,000 feet on a clear and sunny day.

After this class, and hopefully my notes, you will have a better understanding of this process.