The Belvidere Police Department conducts two Citizen's Police Academies during each calendar year.  The first is held at the Boone County Council on Aging.  Classes for this session in 2007 will begin on April 4rd, 2007 at 9:00 am.  This class will meet every Wednesday morning for 6 weeks.  This class is designed to give citizens information on protecting themselves from cons, scams, and another crime and traffic prevention issues.  This is a Boone County TRIAD sponsored program.  If you are interested in attending, please call the Boone County Council on Aging at 9815) 544-9893 to register.

    The second Citizen's Academy is the Citizen's Hometown Security Academy and it is held in the fall of each year.  This academy is again designed to inform the citizens of the community about crime issues, disaster preparedness, fire safety, and their roles in the event of a disaster.  The graduates of this academy are eligible to apply to become members of the Volunteers In Police Service program (VIPS).  The 2007 class will begin meeting on September 11, 2007 at 6:00 pm at the State Street Fire Station.  This class meets for 8 consecutive Tuesday nights for two hours.  If you are interested in participating in this class or if you have questions, please contact Sgt. Temple at (815) 544-2612, extension 601. 

    Instructors for both of these academies come from the Belvidere Police Department, Belvidere Fire Department, Boone County Health Department, Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and other Citizens Corp and first responder agencies of Boone County.

    The Belvidere Police Department and the Belvidere Fire Department also provide CERT training twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall.  CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team and is designed to instruct citizens on basic survival skills that they can use in the event of a disaster to keep their family safe first, then help with their neighbors and also be able to assist with first responders when called upon.  Disaster could be man made or natural. These classes are 8 weeks long and conclude with a class participating in a mock disaster. Below are the topics covered during the class sessions.

Session 1: Disaster Preparedness; Session 2: Fire Suppression; Session 3: Disaster Medical Operations-triage and treating life-threatening injuries; Session 4: Disaster Medical Operations-assessment, treatment, and hygiene; Session 5: Light Search and Rescue, Session 6: Disaster Psychology; Session 7: Team Organization; Session 8: CERT and Terrorism. 

If interested in attending or signing up, please contact Sgt. Jerry Temple at (815) 544-2612, extension 601. 

Web Sites with more information about Citizen Corp

Boone County CERT & VIP  www.boone.portbb.com

Citizen Corps  www.citizencorps.gov/cert

A-CERT Groups Yahoo Message Board  www.groups.yahoo.com/group/A-CERT

Contact Us for further information on the Citizen Academy programs.

Page Updated 03/02/2007