COBB COUNTY, GA — Monday, Aug. 17, is the final day to register for the Cobb County Sheriff’s Citizens Academy, a free six-week program designed to connect residents with the sheriff’s office.

The program takes residents behind the scenes of the sheriff’s office and introduces them to its different divisions, including field operations, fraud and forgery and community outreach.

“You will get an in-depth, open book relationship, with those officers who run those divisions, as well as transparency into what we do and how we go about doing it,” Chief of Staff David Jones said.

The academy includes hands-on activities designed to show residents what deputies encounter in their day-to-day work. Jones says participants will also use a virtual reality simulation that allows them to decide how they would respond to different situations faced by law enforcement officers.

“You’ll understand what we do, the compassion that goes into it, the sympathy that goes into it, and just having a relationship,” Jones said.

The program also explains the role of the sheriff’s office and how it works with city police agencies and the Cobb County Police Department.

“The sheriff’s office is totally separate and sometimes you can get confused on who handles what,” Jones said.

Jones says the academy is also an opportunity for residents to provide feedback and have open conversations with the sheriff’s office about how it operates.

“I believe open dialogue and transparency is important, and so we hope that the citizens academy will give them an opportunity to do that,” Jones said.

The academy meets every Thursday beginning this week through Oct. 1.

WSB Radio’s MaryRyan Howarth contributed to this story.