RUMFORD – Police Chief Stacy Carter announced plans at Thursday’s selectmen’s meeting to establish a Citizen Police Academy, similar to those in operation in several towns.

He said the academy’s purpose is to educate the public on the duties of police officers. It will run for eight to 10 weeks starting later this year or early next year,

“There are a lot of misconceptions about the police department duties. A lot of people see TV. That doesn’t relate to what we do in smaller communities,” he said Friday morning.

The academy isn’t to train police officers, he added. Graduates will become cognizant of what’s going on around them.

He said costs to operate the academy will be minimal for the department and involve purchasing some materials. Applications will be taken from residents when the program is in place. He said the program isn’t for people who have criminal backgrounds, and those who are accepted must commit to attending a majority of the two-hour sessions.

In other police matters, he received approval from selectmen to apply for a $33,000 Homeland Security grant that would help eliminate the dead zones in Oxford County for communication between police officers. The funds would provide equipment for the county’s 33 cruisers that would strengthen the portable radios officers use.

Carter said he is working on the legalities needed to pay for the equipment up front. The grant would then reimburse the town.

In other police news, Carter told selectmen:

• he is working to find money to buy dress uniforms for use during special events such as police funerals, veterans events, Drug Abuse Resistance Education graduations and other special activities. Initially, he’d like to purchase four to six uniforms with the goal to outfit the entire police force.

• the department received a $500 grant from the River Valley Healthy Communities to buy two mobile intoxilyzers to help combat underage drinking.

• a $4,741 state Bureau of Public Safety grant that paid for 18 extra patrols during several summer weekends netted 22 drunken-driving arrests.

• an average of 400 complaints a month were answered by the department during the summer, slightly higher than average.

In other matters, Rumford Fire Chief John Woulfe told the board his department’s dispatching service switched to the Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris on Sept. 11, freeing up an additional firefighter to respond to emergencies.