Citizen policing course provides 'great overview' of police work on P.E.I.

Charlottetown police recently graduated its first citizen policing class, an initiative to provide local residents with a better understanding of police work.

OmairImtiaz, a resident care worker with a life-long interest in policing, jumped at the chance to learn more about it.

"I was really excited,"Imtiazsaid. "I wasmore soexcited later on in the course when I learned there was 40 people that applied and only 20 got selected."

The 13-week course took the participants well beyond the traffic control people see day to day, Imtiaz said, covering major crime, dispatch, the illicit drug trade, outlaw motorcycle gangs anduse of force.

"Basically everything the police are involved in here on P.E.I.," he said. "It really gave us a great overview of what they do, why they do it, how they do it. It was great. We really got a very good insight."

The classes included discussion of some high-profile cases, including Roger Bell, who planted bombs around Charlottetown and Halifax in the 1980s and 1990s, and the more recent case of the Richard Arsenault, known as the "screen cutter."

"It's so much more than what we think," Imtiaz said. "It's amazing how they're involved in the community and how much they do for the community."

The class including people from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, he said, adding that following the class he will be much more comfortable approaching the police with questions or problems.

Police hope to offer the course twice a year.

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