Citizens Police Academy 'Kept Everyone Interested for 3 Hours Each Night'

The Hamilton Police Citizens Academy now boasts more than 50 graduates after its first three years.

The third class graduated on Tuesday night in an event at Hamilton-Wenham Library in front of about 35 people, which also included several of the class members’ family members, town officials and many Hamilton officers.

“This is week ten,” Hamilton Police Sgt. Stephen Walsh told the 20 class members, plus family and friends.

The class, which ran for three hours per night for 10 weeks, was set up by Chief Russell Stevens three years ago and organized by Walsh. Many of the department’s officers taught at least one class, giving participants exposure to the wide range of services and skills involved in being a Hamilton officer.

As a small town department, Walsh said officers are not broken up into specialized departments and instead handle everything from a cat call to a burglary. Officers also do a lot of motor vehicle law enforcement too, he said.

“Some of you have been on the receiving end, now you have seen it from our end,” he said.

When he first signed up for the Citizens Academy, Ray Gosselin of Hamilton said he wondered: “What are they going to talk about for 10 weeks?”

By the end, he said the academy “never failed,” with classes ranging from a session with a State Police K-9, a tour of the Middleton jail and a talk by Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

“You kept everyone interested for three hours each night,” Gosselin said.

Each participant went home with a “certificate of achievement,” a Citizens Academy T-shirt and a copy of a slideshow made up of photos from the class set to music, including the Hill Street Blues theme song and the theme from the TV show “Cops.”

Demand to be part of the class has grown in recent years, Walsh said, with 34 people applying to be part of this fall’s class, with only spots for 20. Walsh said preference was given to Hamilton residents and said other communities, including Wenham, are considering setting up similar programs that may be able to handle some of those who were not able to be part of the year’s academy.