As a group of citizens stood by and watched, Lt. Matt Holton and his K-9 partner, Sonic, demonstrated how they search for drugs in a room. As Sonic jumped on a table to search higher, sniffed around chairs and cabinets and ignored the onlookers, Holton explained the tactics used in a search.

This was only one of the many topics covered in the Austin Police Department’s first Citizen’s Academy offered in Austin for about 18 years. Police Chief Brian Krueger said the group of 14 community members have given good feedback so far.

“The feedback that I’m receiving from some of our staff that have bumped into some of the participants is that it’s going extremely well,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of 14 attending. They’re here every week, they’re very eager to absorb all the information that they’re getting, they have some very good questions, and overall I think they are just fascinated to learn all the activities that we’re involved in and all the types of training we need to maintain our license and to be police officers.”

The six-week academy, which has met every Tuesday night for about two and a half hours, has included topics on the history of the Austin Police Department, training equipment, dispatch and ride-alongs, going to the shooting range and using a 9-millimeter pistol, using the simulator to feel out a scenario, learning about the Special Incident Response Team, the K-9 unit, seeing crime scenes, learning about neighborhood watch and more.

For Steve Kime, who is retired and is active in the community, the academy was a way to learn more about what the officers in Austin do.

“This has been great,” Kime said. “Every week comes along and I look forward to it. It’s just one of those things that, each session is something new and something more informative, eye opening if you can use that phrase. It really is.”

Kime has grown a greater appreciation for what Austin officers do and how they protect the community, and he was impressed at how well each officer presented on their topic.

“Anyone who’s seen this would have a much greater appreciation for the things they do to keep us safe,” he said. “I’m proud of them.”

He encouraged people to go through the program if it continues next year.

The program was free to participants, who must be 21 years old or older and must clear the background check. The group consisted of people ages early 30s through 80s, with about six women and eight men.

“We have a very diverse group,” Krueger said.

For Holly Wallace, the city of Austin’s planning and zoning administrator, joining the academy was a good way to learn more about law enforcement.

“We do overlap in our enforcement activities a little bit,” she said about her job and law enforcement. “We do sometimes need their assistance in going to homes where there may be safety issues, so I thought this would just be a nice way to get to know a little more about how they operate and meet some of the people who work in law enforcement in Austin.”

Wallace had never used a gun before, so she was interested to learn how it felt to handle the weapon. She also enjoyed learning about the volume of responses Austin law enforcement goes to compared to other communities. She said the academy has helped give her more confidence in calling 911 if she needed to.

“I think I’m just like everyone else in that I hesitate, and don’t want to be a burden, or I think I have to be in immediate danger to call,” she said. “But I think I feel more comfortable calling if I see something suspicious.”

“I think this is a great activity,” she added. “If you can spend the time at it, it’s well worth it.”

Krueger hopes to continue the academy annually from now on. The main goal of the academy is transparency for the public to see what officers do and why.

“We want to show transparency,” he said. “We want the public to see exactly what we do, our job, how we perform, why we do certain things that they may not understand before this, and again just for them to see in detail some of the training that goes on behind the scenes.”