ESCANABA — Escanaba Public Safety is holding its second Citizens’ Academy in September and October for members of the public to learn more about the department.

Lt. John Gudwer says each week will be a different topic such as central dispatch, use of force and courts.

“Just to give the public a better understanding of what we do, to give you a background on how we are trained and why we react the way we do,” he said.

A similar academy was held last year. Gudwer says it was a positive way to talk about the role officers have in the community.

“The participants last year really enjoyed it. A lot of times the comments were, ‘wow, I never knew’ or ‘now I understand,’ that kind of stuff,” said Gudwer.

And, because public safety also responds to fires, they will talk about that as well.

Participants need to fill out an application. They are available at public safety. The academy begins Sept. 4 and will run for eight weeks from 6 to about 8:30 p.m.