10-week course provides behind-the-scenes look at the dynamic department
OCEAN CITY — “I would do it again if I was going to be in the area. I highly recommend it,” island resident Cathie Rappoport said of the Citizens’ Police Academy operated by the Ocean City Police Department, which is accepting applications for the third class starting next month.
“I just started accepting applications,” Officer Kayla Ricci said last week.
The academy, organized in 2022, offers members of the public the opportunity to learn about the internal operations of the department.
“The overall objective is to provide the public with sound and accurate information about the department and the criminal justice process so that citizens are able to make informed decisions regarding matters involving the police department and our activities,” Ricci said.
The free 10-week course will cover different topics each session, such as the Community Policing Unit, Traffic Safety Unit, K9 Unit, Marine Unit, Training Unit, patrol operations, detectives, dispatch, administration and the Cape May County Police Academy.
“It’s basically just Ocean City residents that are trying to understand the ins and outs of our police department, trying to figure out what we do,” Ricci said. “It gives them a behind-the-scenes look at what we do in the department.”
She said for each block, a professional in that field speaks about their position with the police department and the class also takes a field trip to the police academy.
Ricci, 33, “started this from the ground up” in 2022 at the suggestion of former chief Jay Prettyman.
She grew up in Cumberland County and has been with the OCPD for 10 years. Ricci attended the Cape May County Police Academy, where she now is an instructor in community policing, and spent three years as a summer officer before being hired as a patrol officer.
She said she enjoys working in the Community Police Unit because she gets to deal with the positive aspects of the job, noting that when patrol officers come into contact with the public, it’s usually under negative circumstances.
Ricci said Prettyman came up with the idea in January 2022 and the first class of 15 started in March that year.
“I don’t know how I pulled it off,” she said, noting she based the course off of what is taught at the police academy.
She said every student gets a notebook with their name on it, a name tag and schedule for the course during the first class, which is an orientation at which Chief Bill Campbell welcomes participants and discusses the department’s organizational structure.
Classes are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. every Thursday, Feb. 29 through May 2, at the Ocean City Free Public Library. At least one session is held at the police academy.
Participants will be able to share their experiences with family, friends, co-workers and the community to potentially further improve and strengthen community-police relations, Ricci said.
She said both the public and department benefit.
“The more information, the better. It will only strengthen the bond with the community and gives us an open line of communication,” Ricci said.
The academy is open to all Ocean City residents and business owners age 18 and older but class size is limited to 20 participants.
Ricci said she has conducted a survey after each course and “everybody has raved about it, they wanted more actually and thought it should be longer. It’s just a wealth of knowledge.”
Rappoport, who was part of the initial class, said she highly recommends people take part.
“I had such a great experience,” she said. “We all had so many questions and so many laughs; it was very entertaining. It was presented in such an interesting way, in an educational but funny manner.”
Rappoport, whose parents and grandparents lived on the island where she spent many summers, said she had just moved to the city full time in 2020 and had a lot of questions about speeding in her neighborhood and the problems with juveniles on the boardwalk.
“I thought this is going to make me more aware of circumstances in town and how I can help,” she said. “I can’t highly recommend it enough to people.”
She said it gave her a better understanding of how the different divisions are operated, noting she enjoyed going to the dispatch center to witness how emergency calls are routed to the appropriate agency.
Rappoport said she was very interested to learn about the limitations officers faced when dealing with juveniles following the justice reform measures undertaken by the state.
“It might be easy for citizens to complain about situations without thorough understanding of the laws and limitations that police must abide by,” Rappoport said. “It’s important for community members to learn about the hiring and training of seasonal officers, what stresses the tremendous increase in the population causes and the detailed responsibilities of each department.”
She said many people assume police officers can just jump in and take care of a situation, but that is not the reality.
“There are a lot of steps involved with how police have to handle certain situations,” she said. “Those stories are hard to hear but are the reality even in the almost perfect town of Ocean City.”
Ricci said most of the 35 people who have completed the course were in their middle ages but noted two 18-year-olds and a 21-year-old attended the academy and joined the OCPD as summer officers the next year.
“It offers good incite for those looking to get hired,” Ricci said.
She said one great aspect about the program is that participants get one-on-one time with officers to discuss their concerns about things going on in their community. The department also shares tips on preventing crimes and avoiding cyber crimes.
After the course, there is a graduation ceremony at which participants are presented with a certificate of completion. Applications can be picked up in person at the Ocean City Police Department. Email kricci@ocnj.us or call (609) 525-4252 for more information.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff