The Citizens Academy is held on a regular basis for area citizens who are interested in learning more about how their police department operates, and about the challenges that face the Tacoma Police Department and our law enforcement community today. Participants meet for three hours sessions, one night a week, for thirteen consecutive weeks. The Tacoma Police Department's Citizens Academy started in 1987, and since that time there have been forty-four (44) separate Academies with over 1,000 participants graduating.

The purpose of the Tacoma Police Department Citizens Academy is to develop positive working relationships between the police department and the citizens of Tacoma.  The Citizens Academy incorporates the Department's "Community Oriented Policing Philosophy”, which brings our citizens and the police together in working to solve problems within the community.  The goal is to create a growing nucleus of  citizens who are well-informed and to provide the community with ambassadors – citizens who can relate their experiences and knowledge about law enforcement to their community and friends.

Some of the topics covered during the Citizens Academy include:

• Department History
• Department Organization
• Operations Bureau Activities– Patrol, Traffic, Marine Services and K-9 Units, SWAT / Special Response Team / Search and Rescue / Bomb Squad 
• Criminal Investigations Bureau Activities– Major Crimes / Special Victims, Career Crimes, Homicide-Assault, Sex Crimes, Child Abuse, Forensic Services, Special Investigations - Gangs / Narcotics / Vice
• Administrative Services Bureau Activities– Internal Affairs, Accreditation, Community Relations / PIO, Hiring Unit, Training / Range, Chaplaincy
• Jail Tour / LESA Dispatch Tour / LESA Records Tour

Instructors for the Citizens Academy are officers and personnel from within the department and other agencies.  These officers speak and teach about their area of expertise.  The Citizens Academy is coordinated through the Tacoma Police Department's Hiring Unit.

The Tacoma Police Department seeks to fill each session with 20-30 citizens forming a cross section of community representation. This includes anyone over the age of eighteen, members of the business community, citizen and community groups, as well as other citizens outside of the City of Tacoma.  

The application period is now closed for the 2009 Citizen's Academy. Applications for the 2010 Citizen's Academy will be accepted starting in January 2010.

Click here for a mail-in application for the next Citizens Academy.

For more information, contact Sergeant J.D. Barrett at 253-591-2015.


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