Residents are again being offered an inside look at the Oxford Police Department through the Citizens Police Academy program.

This year’s 15th session of the police academy will include two nights with a behind-the-scenes look at the Oxford Fire Department. The program begins Feb. 18 and will take place for nine weeks from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Mondays. There will not be a session the week of Miami’s spring break.

Academy coordinator John Buchholz said the program offers citizens a chance to see the inner workings of the law enforcement community. With the addition of two sessions presented by the Oxford Fire Department, he said participants will get a chance to see the operation of that city department as well.

Another first for this year’s program will be a visit by Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix, the first woman coroner in the county’s history.

“She will talk for about 45 minutes and answer questions,” Buchholz said. “She will talk about investigations. (Coroners) have stories.”

The fire department will have two nights of the nine and will include a tour of the fire house, explanation of the equipment and procedures. There will be a short history of the department as well as advice about preventing and fighting fires.

Buchholz said he has spoken to firefighters about possible items to cover in their two sessions and said they told him most people say they have never discharged a fire extinguisher.

“It’s something they have and hope they never have to use,” Buchholz said.

Participants will also get to meet with the assistant county prosecutor assigned to Area One County Court to talk about court process and another session will be devoted to police communications, including the weather sirens and 9-1-1.

“One of the more popular items is always 9-1-1 and weather sirens,” he said. “People know the sirens are there, but want to know when we set them off or what happens when you call 9-1-1 from a cell phone.”

Buchholz said the program is designed around topics that are of interest to residents.

“These are things I think are boring,” he said explaining that police and fire officials are around them every day but residents wonder about the behind-the-scenes operations.

He said they do not operate from a curriculum, preferring instead to make it a hands-on opportunity with plenty of time for questions.

The Citizens Police Academy is limited to about 20 participants to allow interaction. Participants must be at least 18 years old and live or work in Oxford. The academy is free.

“Some people have gone through two or three times,” Buchholz said. “When I ask them why, they say, ‘Every time’s different.’ Classes are taught by different officers. One object is to introduce them to as many officers as we can.”

Some other areas to be covered during the nine-week schedule are department history, traffic laws and enforcement, investigations and crime scenes, community policing, canines, Special Response Team and weapons and safety.