Friday is the deadline to apply for this year's Missouri Highway Patrol "Community Alliance Program."
Every two years, the Patrol's Troop F offers a six-week class for Mid-Missourians to learn about the patrol's operations.
"It is what people commonly refer to as a "Citizens' Academy,'" Cpl. Scott White explained last week. "The public is able to see what we do and experience some of those training evolutions that our troops go through."
Classes run from 6:30-9 p.m., on Thursdays (and on Tuesday, Oct. 20), from Sept. 24-Oct. 29.
"There's a lot of areas of training that we cover," White said. "Obviously, we don't cover everything - but, we want to make sure that people can get the best of what recruits go through in training."
Patrol recruits spend 26½ weeks learning to become a trooper, so taking the Community Alliance Program classes doesn't qualify a participant to become the patrol's newest trooper.
But citizens should get some kind of feel for what the full training entails.
The planned schedule is:
• Sept. 24 - History and introduction of the patrol.
• Oct. 1 - Crime control/crime scene/K-9.
• Oct. 8 - Firearms/range (including the opportunity to shoot a weapon).
• Oct. 15 - Tactical activities/aircraft/SWAT and Marine operations.
• Oct. 20 (Tuesday) - Traffic enforcement/emergency vehicle pperations (participants get to ride in, but not drive, on the special driving range).
• Oct. 29 - DWI/BWI detection.
"The people who have gone through this program really enjoyed it," White said.
Former Jefferson City Council member Carolyn McDowell has attended both the patrol's Community Alliance Program and the Jefferson City Police "Citizens Police Academy" - and said both are good classes to take.
McDowell said her older brother, Harold McDowell, initially declined to take the classes after she took them, but changed his mind afterward and said, "That was the best thing I've ever done."
She added, "It teaches a long-term thought pattern that we still have.
"I think that people (in the class) not only have more knowledge of law enforcement - which most of us do not have - and it's learning who's enforcing the law and what wonderful people they are.
"They're good to our community - and we need them."
McDowell is part of a statewide alumni committee that helps the patrol organize Community Alliance Programs throughout the state.
But, because much of the patrol's training facilities are centralized, and the General Headquarters is in Jefferson City, she said, "We have the best, because we have all the equipment and we have GHQ here. ...
"We can show you more."
White agreed.
"For example, instead of having aircraft land in a football field somewhere, we have everything at the hangar" at Jefferson City Memorial Airport, he explained. "And this is where officers come from all over the state, to get trained in emergency vehicle operations."
White also noted there are differences between the statewide patrol and local police departments.
"We are not a state police agency," he said. "We do have different divisions - and our mission is to enforce the law and provide services.
"Over time, our responsibilities have changed. We have (the division of) Drug and Crime Control. We have Marine Operations now (the former state Water Patrol) and Gaming."
He said a lot of people don't realize the patrol operates an Aircraft division and Crime labs where "all of the other agencies in Missouri send all of their information to ... for testing."
Although not operating as a state police agency, White added, traffic stops themselves can involve more than a traffic violation.
"A lot of our officers work the interstates and the major highways - and when they do stop people and arrest them for drugs, a lot of times, it's a very high quantity," he said. "It's a lot of drugs that you get out of these cars."
The class is limited to 20 students, and admission is first-come, first-served, White said. "They'll have to pass a standard criminal background check, to make sure they don't have any felony convictions" - although, he added, "it's a case-by-case basis, so we can take a look at what issues they have had in the past and, obviously, how long it's been since they had those issues."
Applications are available from White, at 573-751-1000, ext. 3619.
"Call me, and I can mail it or I can email it," he said.
Or you can pick up an application at the front desk at the Troop F headquarters, 2920 N. Shamrock Road at U.S. 50/63 East.
"It's a neglected opportunity if you do not attend," McDowell said.