Officer Matt Rhinehart presented an update to the City Council regarding the city’s Citizen Police Academy. Pictured, from left, are Mayor Eddie Sundquist, Deputy Fire Chief Matthew Coon, City Council President Anthony Dolce, R-Ward II, Director of Development Crystal Surdyk, Officer Matt Rhinehart, and Police Chief Timothy Jackson. P-J photo by Timothy Frudd

The city’s Citizen Police Academy is currently underway, providing a group of local residents with the opportunity to learn more about the responsibilities and operations of the Jamestown Police Department.

Officer Matt Rhinehart presented an update to the City Council during Monday’s work session regarding the status of the Citizen Police Academy.

“We’re on the fourth week this week,” he said. “The first three classes were all primarily introductory topics-penal law, traffic stops, stuff like that. This week is mental health for both police and for citizens, and there will be two of the attendees starting their ride-alongs this week.”

Asked by City Councilman William Reynolds, R-Ward V, how many citizens were selected for the Citizen Police Academy, Rhinehart said the Jamestown Police Department selected 15 applicants for the academy; however, one attendee had to “drop out” due to family matters. As a result, the city currently has 14 community members attending the Citizen Police Academy classes and participating in the program.

Asked by Daversa when the Citizens Police Academy meets each week, Rhinehart said the Citizen Police Academy takes place every Wednesday night from 6-9 p.m. at City Hall.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist encouraged any of the City Council members interested in attending a session of the Citizen Police Academy to reach out to Police Chief Timothy Jackson or Officer Rhinehart.

In addition to the update regarding the Citizen Police Academy, the Public Safety Committee shared an encouraging report concerning the city’s attempt to hire more police officers to fill vacant positions.

“The chief gave us some good news that we will be having two new officers getting their field work March 7 and 8,” Public Safety Committee Chairman Brent Sheldon, R-Ward I, said. “They were on the civil service list that we had. They are currently in the Sheriff’s Academy, and they will be completing their field work with Jamestown Police Department. The plan is to keep them on if everything works out well. That’s good news; that’s two new hires out of three.”

During Monday’s meeting, City Council President Anthony Dolce, R-Ward II, also addressed concerns by local resident Doug Champ regarding nuisance complaints in the upcoming spring and summer seasons.

While Dolce acknowledged that the city had hoped to already have a police officer hired to address nuisance complaints, he suggested that there are different things the city could consider in order to address nuisance concerns until the vacant position is filled.

Dolce said that as the weather starts to improve, the city has already received nuisance complaints regarding noise, cars and motorcycles.

“It’s going to get worse as the season goes on,” he said. “There are certainly some things that the administration and the council can look at to try to deal with that. I know they’re a busy group with dealing and prioritizing what they have to go after, but there may be some things that we can look at, again, certainly not taken lightly when we look at that.”