Citizens’ Police Academy Has Openings

Positions remain open for the latest edition of the East Ridge Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy.

Officials said spots still remain for the CPA which begins on Monday, March 6.

The classes will be held at Local Coffee at 4104 Ringgold Rd. and will run for 10 weeks.

ERPD Chief Clint Uselton said via an email that the classes will expose participants to every division within the police department.

“We try to do as many hands-on activities as possible,” Chief Uselton said.

The class, Uselton said, is an effort to build relationships with the citizens of East Ridge. “We believe open communication and education are vital in providing the type of police services our community expects,” he said.

Chief Uselton said the Citizens’ Police Academy gives individuals an opportunity to learn about who the police are and what they do. Conversely, it gives department officials an opportunity to learn about the people it serves and what expectations the public has about policing.

Applications can be accessed at the City of East Ridge website. All citizens of East Ridge and those who work within the city are eligible to apply.

Officials said the class size will be limited to 12 participants. When the slots are filled don’t despair, as another Citizens’ Police Academy is slated for the summer or early fall.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.