About the Academy

The Greensboro Police Citizens’ Academy is a 12-week program designed to give you greater insight into your police department. Each session will be informative and interactive. The program is set to begin on January 15, 2025, and will run through April 2, 2025, with sessions every Wednesday evening.

The 2025 program will be in person with the majority of sessions held at Police Headquarters, 100 E. Police Plaza. Program planning will adapt as COVID-19 guidelines change in our community. Your safety and the safety of our officers is our first priority.

Click here for this year's application

Classroom discussions are facilitated by Greensboro police officers and civilian employees who are subject matter experts in each topic. Each presenter will describe the functions of his/her section and will leave ample time to answer questions and share ideas.

Topics discussed include community-oriented policing, vice/narcotics, K-9, forensic services, special teams, real time intelligence center, community programs, and firearms training.

As you go through the academy, we want you to not only learn about police functions, but also think about what your role is in contributing to a safer city. After you graduate, we hope you are inspired to become engaged with your community and elected leaders to resolve issues that are important to all of us.

We hope the program will enhance communication between residents and police, which will create long-term partnerships that solve problems, reduce crime, and improve quality of life.

Goals and Objectives
The goal of the Greensboro Police Citizens’ Academy is to give you greater insight into your police department in order to form long-term partnerships to share responsibilities and resources to make the city safer. This program is not an accredited certification course to become a sworn police officer or Reserve Police Officer.

Testimonials from Recent Graduates
"The Greensboro Police Citizens' Academy was such an eye-opening experience. Through this program I learned about the many different ways the GPD is involved in the community. Not only the aspect of patrolling, but the many community outreach programs as well as their extensive efforts to solve crimes. The academy also showed me different ways I can be effective in fighting crime. I would highly recommend this academy to any Greensboro citizen." -- Gretchen Stumpf

"I get a lump in my throat when I try to explain how special my time with the 2013 Greensboro Police Citizens' Academy has been. I am so proud of this exceptional program, and every opportunity I get, I speak to others about my experience and encourage everyone to take this class. Not only will you have a greater insight into the GPD but you will be emotionally affected by the passion that each officer has for the citizens of Greensboro. A piece of my heart belongs to the Greensboro Police Department and I will continue to support, volunteer and advocate for these most amazing, brave and strong men and women. They are heroes." -- Karen Travis

"Having been selected to attend the 2013 Greensboro Police Department's Citizens' Academy has been an experience of a lifetime. I am so impressed with the caliber of personnel that facilitated each session. Over the course of six months, I was amazed to learn how each applicant is selected and the process they must go through to become an officer for the City of Greensboro. It was evident during my ride along observations that each officer had compassion for the individuals they made contact with. This organization is top notch in their training, commitment to our city and the service they provide to our citizens every day. I cannot say enough about this fine group of individuals who protect and serve! The Greensboro Police Department now has a faithful follower, volunteer, and advocate that stems from my experience in the Academy." -- Suzanne Nazim

"It has enlightened me as far as the inner workings of the police department and how the individual departments work together to form the GPD. I looked forward to each class and participated in the questions and dialogue with the instructors. They were simply awesome. The other participants were great in that we could have lots of discussions about the different topics and not get too wound up with the details. We had a great group of students and I truly enjoyed taking part in this 2013 Citizens' Police Academy."  -- Roger Pyatt

"The 2012 Police Citizens' Academy was a wonderful experience filled with remarkable memories. As citizens, we were introduced to the various divisions of our Police Department. Having that exposure was such an honor and a rare privilege. It enable us as citizens to have a glimpse of each specialized department, how they function and support one another for efficiency.

Learning of the outreach programs and available community assistance that the Police Department has established with agencies serving the City of Greensboro was the most impressive to me as a citizen. I left the Academy with a clear understanding and insight that our Police Department wants to make a difference and impact our community in a positive way. With such efforts our community stands to prosper with reduced crime statistics.

I encourage all that desire such an experience to apply. This is such an exceptional program to take advantage of. The experience will move you and will be well worth your invested time."  -- Julie J. Beane

"Before we moved down here to Greensboro from New Jersey, we both worked closely with our local police department. We volunteered with organizations that were associated with or sponsored by the local police. Once here in Greensboro we wanted to see how a “big city” police department worked, compared to our former “small town” of 65,000 residents and only one police station.

We were impressed by the training, discipline and integrity of the Greensboro police department. We were also surprised at how much goes on behind the scenes. We found out that there is much more than just patrolling the city.

We encourage every citizen of Greensboro to participate in the Citizens Police Academy where they will be surprised by all the training, policies and especially the integrity of the Greensboro police." -- Dan and Betty Williams 

"I enjoyed the Citizens Police Academy very much. We learned about the K-9, the department structure, the hard training the police academy has to go through in order to become a police officer. We learned about those classes and other departments, and also got to do a ride-a-long in the 11 weeks of the Citizens Police Academy." -- Julie E. Crowder