A select group

of Peachtree City residents will get to see how police work happens firsthand

through the Citizen's Police Academy program being offered by the Peachtree

City Police Department.

Interested

persons are urged to pick up an application packet for the program, which

will be held Thursday evenings from Sept. 11 to Nov. 13 from 6-8 p.m.

Police Chief

James Murray said the department will select applicants representing a

wide cross-section of the community.

"We want

to give people a better understanding of how police work happens,"

Murray said. "This is ultimately what community policing is all about."

Applicants

must undergo criminal background and driver's history checks, but once

accepted to the program they will be allowed to ride along with a city

police officer on their own time if they wish.

Participants

will get to use a weapons simulator that presents real-life scenarios

in which an officer must decide if and when to use deadly force, Murray

added.

The course

will also cover traffic laws, officer survival, criminal investigations,

crime scene processing, identity theft and a host of other topics.

Although only

25 applicants will be selected to participate, the department can hold

another academy in the future if there is enough demand, Murray said.

The department

was one of the first in the state to offer a citizen's police academy

back in 1991.

"Every

time we've done it before it has been ultra successful," Murray said.

Applications

for the Citizen's Police Academy are available at the department's headquarters

at 350 Ga. Highway 74 south and at the library and City Hall. The deadline

to apply is Aug. 27 and applicants must be at least 18 and either a resident,

business owner or employee of the city.

The course

is free and all classes will be held in the department's training room.

More information

is available at www.ptcpolice.org or by calling the department at 770-487-8866.