Mayor Larry Morrissey and Police Chief Epperson will be the keynote speakers at the ceremony. Graduates and their guests will also have an opportunity to observe the K-9 and Bomb Squad robot demonstrations.

For the past eight weeks, these seventeen citizens from the Rockford area have spent two hours each Wednesday afternoon attending training sessions focused on educating citizens on the value of engagement in the public safety process. The citizens have learned about police related topics including Patrol and Investigative Services Bureau operations, 911 Center operations and the Mayors vision for the City, Community Policing, Crime Prevention, Drug and Gang awareness, Crime Analysis, Criminal Laws and City Ordinances, Identity Theft, and Organizing and Maintaining a Neighborhood Watch Group.

This is the third class to graduate from Rockford’s newly designed Citizens Police Academy. The program was designed to inform and educated citizens who would then return to their neighborhoods to organize, encourage and mobilize others to partner with the police to reduce crime in Rockford. The Citizens Police Academy is a required component for those citizens wishing to participate in the Citizens Assisting Police Volunteer Program, which was recently started by the Rockford Police Department.

The ceremony is Wednesday May 26, 2010 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.