June 20, 2024 Submitted by The Town of Hingham
The latest class to attend the Citizen’s Police Academy offered by the Hingham Police Department graduated last Wednesday. The Hingham Police Department has been running the popular Citizen’s Police Academy since 1996. It is the longest running such program in Massachusetts and has served as a model program for other departments throughout New England. The Academy is a 10-week course that covers an array of law enforcement matters, ranging from motor vehicle law to domestic violence. The course also includes a ride- along with an officer, and a K9 demonstration.
The Academy allows our officers and our citizens to have positive, informative interactions. It has been the goal of the Department to have participants come away with a full perspective of what Hingham Police Officers specifically, and police in general, do including “how and why” it’s done. In return, the Hingham Police Department gets renewed insight into the needs and concerns of the community they serve.
Donna Thompson works for the Town of Hingham in the Land Use Development Department. She was a member of and participant speaker at last week’s graduation. Having worked for the Town for just a year, Donna enrolled the Academy, in part, to “learn more about the town as a whole and the people who live here.” She explained that although participants just “dip their toes” into police works through the Academy, the 10-week course is, nonetheless, “an intense experience.”
Donna’s participation included a four-hour ride-along with Officer Kevin Nguyen of the traffic division on a Friday evening in early June. During her ride-along, Donna learned Hingham’s traffic “problem” areas and watched – from the safety of the police cruiser –two stops for traffic violations.
Donna did not go into the Academy with any of the preconceived notions people often pick up from television police dramas, but she came away with profound respect for the professionalism displayed by the Hingham officers, and a bit impressed with the high-tech aspects of modern law enforcement.
Donna and her classmates also got a chance to follow municipal policing up through a mock criminal trial before Judge Heather Bradley at the Hingham District Court where her class acted as the jury.
The Academy is run by Lieutenant John Marquardt and Officer Jeremiah Sullivan in the spring at the Hingham Police Department.
Hingham Police Chief David Jones had high praise for the Academy, and its benefits to both Town residents and his officers. “As a former Director of the CPA,” Chief Jones said, “I am incredibly proud of the work that Lieutenant Marquardt and Officers Sullivan and Nguyen do with these academy classes. Building relationships with our community members is what this program is all about, and I am honored to continue offering it to our Town employees and residents.”
The program is held on Wednesdays from 6pm – 9pm. Applications for the next class can be found on the Hingham Police website at hpd.org.