Story County residents wanting to take part in the sheriff’s department’s Citizen’s Academy X Tuesday are out of luck.

The event’s organizers said the 18 slots available for the event filled up quickly.

But not to worry — applications are being accepted for the next one, scheduled for the beginning of 2005.

Act fast — there’s already a waiting list of six for next year.

The citizen’s academy is a once-a-week, 12-week program for Story County residents to learn more about what local law enforcement does and can do for them. Held twice a year, the 5-year-old event features programs including learning more about the dispatch process to reviewing how deputies investigate crash scenes.

The courses provide a relevant foundation for people to understand more about procedures and processes in the department, officials said.

“It’s important for citizens to know how their law enforcement works,” said Capt. Gary Foster of the Story County Sheriff’s office.

“Also, it gives them the opportunity to become familiar with individual officers. A lot of the time, people feel more comfortable talking about criminal problems they’ve had if they know the officer they’re talking to.”

There are also some practical benefits to taking the courses, Foster said.

“We teach some crime prevention tricks to help citizens to protect themselves and their property by making them more aware of the types of criminals that might be in their communities,” he said.

“It affords them the opportunity to learn from us how to make their property and themselves less attractive targets to criminals.”

Foster said the Citizen’s Academy program has been very popular since it began as a product of Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald’s desire to open the office up to the public.

And, Foster said, the public has responded well.

“They love it,” said Sgt. Dave Lekwa, coordinator of Citizen’s Academy.

“We have never had anyone go through the program that hasn’t thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The program’s instructors, people from every department of the sheriff’s office, are also happy with the results of the program.

“It seems to be popular, and we sure enjoy it,” Foster said. “It gives officers the opportunity to tell citizens about their job and why they do it.”

Police officers also said they enjoy discussing their jobs with citizens.

“This is the best thing since sliced bread,” Lekwa said. “I wish we could have started this years ago. It promotes excellent communication, and it’s the best way to communicate what the sheriff’s office is, and what we do.”

But beyond the tips and techniques the class graduates are privy to, Lekwa said, the program finds its greatest benefit, both to the department and the community, simply by helping to increase communication between the two groups. Relationships among deputies and citizens are often strained, he said, because the bulk of encounters between the two often center around things like traffic stops.

“It’s nice to have a positive impact on the public instead of a negative one,” he said.

Also included among the planned seminars are sessions on traffic laws and enforcement, support services and firearms. The latter will include participants’ receiving rudimentary firearm training and being allowed to shoot sheriff’s department weapons.

The sessions begin at the Story County Sheriff’s office on Tuesday, with graduation on Nov. 23. Most of the sessions will involve hands-on activities. Those interested in taking part in the next program are encouraged to contact Lekwa to reserve their place.