In an effort to encourage communication and understanding between downtown businesses and police while addressing concerns about safety and property crime, the Centralia Police Department has partnered with the Centralia Downtown Association to create a four-week “Merchant Academy,” scheduled to begin on Monday.
The course is modeled off a citizen’s academy, which the police department regularly sponsors to introduce residents to the department and police practices, but has been shortened to accommodate business owners’ busy schedules, organizers said.
“Normally the citizen’s academy is eight to 10 weeks so we had to dial it in and focus it down to the main issues downtown businesses face,” said Centralia Community Service Officer Jennifer Krueger, who organizes the department’s regular citizen’s academies
CDA Vice President Tory Graf helped organize the academy.
“It will help the business owners and the building owners in the role they can play
… in partnership with the police department, so we’re supporting the police department and know how to reach out to the police department,” Graf said.
Graf said she hopes the academy will help both organizations in their goals of creating a safe and welcoming downtown.
She and Krueger worked together to create the merchant academy, with input from downtown business and building owners.
“We had a few brainstorming sessions,” Krueger said.
The academy is broken up into four nights — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 8, 15, 22, and 29 — and will be held at Centralia City Hall.
The first week focuses on property crimes and understanding the role and limitations of law enforcement. It will also touch on criminal prosecution. Week two discusses crime prevention and “situational awareness,” and Chief Carl Nielsen will discuss reporting crimes, Krueger said. Week three will focus on officer selection, training and the reserve program, and the final week will highlight community policing strategies and mental health issues.
Graf said downtown business owners are particularly concerned about property crime and issues related to the city’s homeless population. She said she hopes the program will reinforce a consistent message of how the city, police and residents should respond to the challenge.
“I think that’s probably one of the biggest ones,” she said.
Participants must register in advance for the merchant academy. To sign up, contact the Centralia Police Department at 360-330-7680 or visit the department’s Facebook page.
“If you own a business, work in a business, own a building downtown, I think anybody that really who is associated with that merchant community or even if you live downtown and are curious or interested in those things, it’s open to everybody,” Graf said.