THE FIRST North Worcestershire Citizens’ Academy was officially launched at Bromsgrove’s Blue Light Centre.
Supt Alex Franklin-Smith welcomed everyone and opened the academy with a presentation on The Challenges and Demands of Policing, which highlighted the range of incidents dealt with by West Mercia and Warwickshire Police on a daily basis.
He also commented on how, with future demands likely to increase, citizens were encouraged to become advocates for the police service and to consider getting involved with community safety schemes and volunteering.
The course will include inputs on police firearms, roads policing and public order policing.
Members of the academy were also given a tour of Bromsgrove’s joint police and fire station – one of the first of its kind in the country. It gave members of the new academy a unique insight into how the two services had co-located to deliver efficiency savings and improve the quality of service provided to the public.
Insp Sarah Corteen told The Standard: “The North Worcestershire Citizens are a diverse group with amazing skill sets and lots of life experience.
“The overall feedback for the evening was excellent – it is going to be a tremendous ten weeks,” she added.
