ADAMS COUNTY —Local residents will soon be offered a glimpse into the inner mechanisms of the criminal justice system.
The district attorney’s office for Adams and Broomfield counties is taking applications for its first citizens academy, which offers a look into everything from the anatomy of a homicide case to the role forensic science plays in prosecutions, among other things. Up to 40 people are being taken for the two-month course, which officially kicks off Sept. 17, said Sue Lindsay, public information officer for the 17th Judicial District.
The academy was spearheaded in large part by Dave Young, who took over as district attorney this year. The idea, he said, was spawned while campaigning for another DA candidate. Young said he quickly realized that most citizens are unclear as to how the office functions.
“Almost no one had a clue what prosecutors do, much less the DA’s office,” Young said.
The academy will be broken into eight 2½ hour sessions, each of which will led by members of the DA’s office and local law enforcement officials. Young will teach the first session, which details how a criminal is prosecuted.
“We wanted to do something that’s going to grab the public’s attention and keep it,” Young said.
Since taking office in January, Young has worked to launch several new programs in the 17th Judicial District, including a “homicide on-call unit” designed to get chief prosecutors out to the scene of a crime faster. Young also hopes to form a new “economic crime unit” to provide more cohesion in prosecuting white-collar crimes.
To learn more about the citizens academy, call 303-835-5639 or go to .
Joey Kirchmer: 303-954-2650, jkirchmer@denverpost.com or
