Men, women, young, and not-so-young — a cross-section of residents from all corners of the community gathered at the Bristol Police Station last Thursday, March 23 for a celebratory end to the Department’s first Citizens Police Academy to be held in several years, and the largest graduating class in the history of the program.

Coordinated by Sgt. Ricardo Mourato, the Academy consisted of 10 weeks of programming, for two hours on Thursday nights, and included lectures as well as hands-on experiences from ride-alongs to simulations and equipment demonstrations.

Chief Kevin Lynch made an appearance at the graduation, and thanked the community for Bristol’s recent (re)designation as Rhode Island’s safest town, citing the Department’s strong working relationship with residents, Town leadership and the other department heads.

“I'm very glad that you had snapshot of what the Bristol Police Department is and does. One of the things that I've noticed in my almost four years here it is the relationship that the community has with the police department is so strong, and that is why we are so successful,” Lynch said. “We’re all proud to work together and to treat the community with the dignity and respect that everyone deserve.”

The students of the Academy returned the love, with a photograph of the members of the Department — a mosaic of 62 photos taken during the course of the program by the participants. The image was created by participant Jason Perusek, who presented it to the Chief and Sgt. Mourato.

“Thank you on behalf of the class. We think you're the finest police department in this country,” he said, remarking that the mosaic effect is meant to symbolize how the Department is of, by, and for the residents of Bristol.

It seems every participant had a different takeaway as far as what they found to be the most impressive aspect of the class, or police work, with notable lasting impressions including amazement at the sheer number of necessary skills and duties to the situational awareness and rapid-fire decision making required of Bristol’s men and women in uniform.

“My favorite thing that we did was the ride along,” said Linnea Dean. “It was just cool to see what they do every day and to get in the police car and go around with them.”

“I really liked the high-stress simulator,” said Sophia Borrelli, of the evening that participants were hooked up to a simulation gun and screen and had to made fast decisions about whether or not to use force. “It showed a lot of the stuff that they have to go through on the spot and it was really interesting to see how stressful it actually is.”

For other participants, the biggest takeaway was the big-picture perspective they got on police operations, and Bristol’s specifically.

“I enjoyed all the classes, honestly,” said Kiera Jan. “I feel like it was really insightful, learning about what they do and all the standards and policies they have to follow and enforce throughout the community — not just within the police station. They work hard to make connections with the community and everyone in it, and I thought it was really interesting to get a look inside just what they do and what their goals are.”

“The best part of the experience?” said Angelo McClain. “Just getting to see the how much pride they take in the work they do.”

“It gave me a look at the personal lives of the men and woman of the Bristol Police Department, and I thought that was invaluable,” said Pat Lannan. “I think most people, when they see a cop, they think, ‘uh oh.’
“I won’t do that anymore.”