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“Taser! Taser! Taser!” people yelled as many of them deployed a yellow Taser for the first time. At one of the final sessions in a six-week Community Police Academy run by the Menlo Park Police Department, participants got a hands-on lesson in law enforcement tools.
The inside look at the department offers a chance to learn about every unit of Menlo Park’s police force and policing as a whole. Participants went on ride-alongs, watched presentations and had conversations with officers as part of the academy, which wrapped up on Feb. 18.
Participants also learned how to properly deploy a Taser.
“It was very eye-opening,” said academy participant Sheng Song, who deployed the Taser inside a classroom at the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center at Burgess Park. “We see Tasers in movies all the time but no one explains how they work … I really liked the hands-on experience.”
Before using the Taser, members of the department presented to the group of about seven people about Menlo Park’s policies on the use of force. Officers said that when they use a Taser, they aim to have one probe go above the waist and another go on the thigh. However, they try to avoid the chest and groin areas.
“The Taser’s job is to cause muscles to constrict so by ‘splitting the waist’ we get the best surface area under control,” one officer said.
Participants of the community academy are there for different reasons. For some, it is a way for people considering joining the police force to get know different agencies.
Sarishma Maharaj applied to join the San Francisco and Oakland police departments but after attending the community academy, she intends to apply to Menlo Park as well.
“I always wanted to be a detective, so this experience was very important to me and they were professional and answered my questions,” Maharaj said. She said the experience helped her better understand the department and the benefits of a smaller agency like Menlo Park.
Acker said that the academy has proven to be a successful recruiting tool both for officer vacancies and finding dispatchers and civilian staff.
“I think a lot of people don’t know the various roles that the department has. If somebody is looking for a career in public safety, it’s not just being a police officer and dispatcher. There are a lot of support roles in the department,” Acker said. Civilian roles at Menlo Park include code enforcement officers, community service officers, parking enforcement officers and records and evidence staff.
As part of the community academy, participants can go on ride-alongs with officers to get a firsthand look at policing. Acker said that the department does not do many civilian ride-alongs due to staffing challenges, so the community academy offers a rare opportunity.
“They’re able to really sit in a vehicle for four hours with an officer, go to calls and see how officers utilize their skills and things that they’ve learned in the academy. Especially those who want to be a police officer, I think they really get a thrill in going on a ride-along and just seeing what they’re going to be exposed to on the job,” Acker said.
Other participants said they wanted to better understand the department. Song said he signed up for the academy after moving to Menlo Park from Mountain View.
“We have seen many police scenes in the movies but in real life, police officers and procedures are very different,” Song said. “Because in the movies, it’s very action-packed. They solve everything and are like superhumans. But as they explained in the class, they take a very nuanced approach and explain how they enforce the law and respect human rights and constitutional rights.”
He said the experience helped him better understand police procedures and how policing works.
“I have a lot stronger respect for the police now,” Song added.
Social worker Jaemi Hagen joined the citizen academy to help her understand what her patients and families might be going through.
“I work with families who are involved in the foster care system, or involved in the legal system somehow, and this helps me get a better understanding of what their experience with police could have been like,” Hagen said.
Acker, who is the department’s internal services manager, said the academy helps demystify policing.
“If you met a police officer in public, I think a lot of people wouldn’t feel like they’re approachable and are just intimidated — what this program does is it allows you to actually get a firsthand experience with the officers. You see them as people, see them as trained, educated and skilled people that you can trust,” said Acker.
Participants meet in the evening once a week for six weeks from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Every unit of the department gives a presentation, from well-known units like patrol and traffic enforcement, to the lesser-known groups like the records unit and dispatch.
“The goal is to get our community members engaged with us and to get to know us, plus get a bird’s-eye view into the department,” said Acker.
“We are very enthusiastic about meeting the community and helping them learn about how the police department operates. I think a lot of people have a basic understanding of us. So the citizen academy is a tool that can kind of help bridge that gap with the police and the community,” Acker added.
The department will host its next community academy in January 2027. Registration is already open and participants can register on the city’s website. The program is open to anyone 18 and older.
Cops offer a crash course in real world policing at Menlo Park’s community academyMarch 6, 2026 10:49 am