The Maui Police Department wants average citizens to know what it’s like to be an officer.

The department’s community relations section has plans to set up a Citizen’s Academy starting in January that gives people ages 18 years and older a window into the life of a police cadet.

“The purpose is to educate citizens, try to bridge the gap between the community and police department as far as what a recruit officer has to go through,” Ofc. Kalani Miles, who is spearheading the program, told the Maui Police Commission Wednesday.

The program would be conducted over the course of a week and would include about 28 hours of instruction.

The academy would start with a physical assessment that includes a 1.5-mile run, a 300-yard run, and tests for push-ups, sit-ups, bench press and vertical jump.

Police instructors would cover topics like criminal law, firearms training, arrest techniques, investigative procedures, traffic violations and emergency driving.

The details of the program still need to be worked out and nothing is set in stone yet, Miles said.

The initial class would be limited to 10 people. Miles said the target participants for this first academy would be police commissioners, government board members, media, and county council members.

The total cost to the department for this initial class would be $13,670, according to a police presentation. Most of the cost would cover overtime for police instructors.

Mark Redeker, a police commissioner and owner of Mid-Pacific Pest Control, said he would fund the full cost of the class.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.