Thirty Madison residents are getting an up-close and behind-the-scenes look into the Madison Police Department, as the second-annual Citizens’ Police Academy got underway Tuesday, March 22.

The five-week program meets each Tuesday at the Police Department from 6-8:30 p.m., and it is designed to enhance the department’s relationship with the community it serves, while also educating residents on the structure, specializations and capabilities of the Madison force.

Participants in the program were chosen through an application process.

Lt. John Stringer, the department’s internal affairs and community relations officer, said the class helps educate residents on what officers can and can’t do by law, while also giving the public a chance to meet with the department’s officers in an environment free from confrontation, emergency or distractions.

“Police work is not just law enforcement,” String said. “Police work is community service. A police department cannot exist independently from the citizens it serves.”

During Tuesday’s opening session, citizens heard from Chief Larry Muncey and Major Lee Weaver, while also hearing from Stringer and learning the importance of the department’s community policing division.

“Hopefully the citizens will leave with a better understanding not only of what police services we perform, but also a more realistic expectation of what we can and can’t do.”

During the next four weeks, the program will cover many other functions and capabilities of the force, including speakers on patrol, crime scenes, SWAT, animal control, school resource officers, Emergency 911 responders, the Madison Police Foundation and more.

Stringer hopes the program will make citizens more apt to approach officers, while also reminding officers why they got into the line of duty.

“Police officers are people too,” Stringer said. “Hopefully it will remind officers that we’re not only for enforcement. It’s so important (officers and the public) work together. There should never be a separation between the police and the public.”