
Elkhart police hosting citizens training
ELKHART — The Elkhart Police Department is taking applications for its 2025 Spring Citizens Academy.
The Citizens Academy is an educational, interactive program providing all attendees with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of how the police department operates on a daily basis.
The Citizens Academy is a 10-week program where citizens attend two and one half hour classes, one night each week. The Citizens Academy is scheduled for Tuesday nights from 6:30-9 p.m. beginning April 15 and going through June 17. The classes are instructed by Elkhart Police Department personnel who have developed the curriculum, which includes, but is not limited to narcotics investigations, SWAT, K9, defensive tactics, professional standards, crime scene investigations and the Emergency 911 Communications Center.
During the academy, participants will receive information and demonstrations on how the different divisions of the police department work. At the end of the academy, participants are encouraged to participate in a ride-along with an on-duty officer to see how everything they have learned can be applied.
Anyone interested in participating must be 18 years old or older, complete an application and release for a criminal history check. Applications are available at https://bit.ly/epdCPA2025. The application and release are also available at www.elkhartpolice.org, under News & Events or at the front desk of the Elkhart Police Department, 175 Waterfall Drive, Elkhart. Applications will be taken until April 1 and class size is limited to the first 20 approved applications.

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