PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Once a week, residents and people who work in Perrysburg spend their evenings at the Perrysburg Citizens Police Academy.
The first half of the night consists of a classroom portion, while the other half is hands-on. Ad this week, participants are learning about gun safety.
The program is the police department's way to help people understand what it's like to be a police officer.
"Sometimes I don't know how they do it," attendee Judy Hagen said. "For example, wearing the kevlar and the equipment belt. It's very heavy."
Each week, the group is introduced to a new aspect of policing.
So far they have done a ride-along, learned how investigations work and conducted fingerprinting at a fake crime scene.
Learning the ins and outs is exactly why Hagen, a former city of Perrysburg employee, signed up.
"To have a better understanding of what they do and to realize that even though we're a small city and we're safe, they do have many risks that we're not really aware of," she said.
The citizens academy has been a part of the police department for almost two decades, although it was on hold for the last two years.
Instructors said its return is a chance for people to have a better understanding of their job and the parts that a lot of people don't see eye-to-eye on.
"We want to make sure they leave here knowing what we do each day and how we operate," Perrysburg Police Lt. Chris Sargent said. "It also gives them a chance for us to get feedback from them."
Hagen said she's learned things that she found surprising.
"I was amazed when we did the ride along in the car, the number of electronics and the speed at which they can get information and be able to work the scene," she said.
The participants have been meeting since mid-September and will graduate from the academy on Nov. 16.