By Corey Hord

Members of the UK community have the opportunity to gain an inside perspective of UK Police thanks to a semi-annual program that began Tuesday.

The program, UK’s Police’s Citizen Police Academy, aims to create a more cohesive relationship between police officers and the UK community, according to the program’s website.

“The Citizens Police Academy is one of the programs that I envisioned to open lines of communication with the campus community,” Police Chief Joe Monroe said. “This is the fourth year of UKPD offering this program, and this class is the eighth class.”

UK Police is the sole funder of the program, but the department is working toward sponsorships to continue funding the program.

“We strive to provide quality crime awareness programs to enhance our partnership with the community to reduce and prevent crimes from occurring,” Monroe said.

The program includes a series of three-hour courses offered over a seven or eight-week period, according to the website. The series will contain topics including university policing overview, criminal procedure, K-9 operations, firearms, use of force, special response team, executive protection team, police survival skills and self-defense. Lectures, audio-visual aids and interactive scenarios will be used to present course material.

Those interested in participating in the program must be 18 years or older with no prior felony convictions, they must have an affiliation with UK and they must be a Lexington resident at the time of the classes. Those interested also must fill out a course application, and submission of an electronic background check is required.

Classes will be held every Tuesday until a formal graduation ceremony on Nov. 30. They will be in room 359 of the Student Center from 6 to 9 p.m.  To enroll, visit, (www.uky.edu/Police/citizensacademy.html).