Get Involved!

Citizen's Police Academy

The Banning Police Department’s annual Citizen’s Academy will be held at the Banning Police Department. A future date has not been set yet. The goal of the citizen’s academy is to provide community members with an inside look at how the police department runs its day-to-day operations. In addition, the citizen’s academy will provide community members an opportunity to engage with department personnel. The 8-week course is designed to give citizens an overview of the department’s function and operational methods. The course will provide insight on how police personnel perform their duties.

The Banning Police Department Police Explorer Program’s purpose is to provide experiences that help young people mature, and to prepare them to become responsible and caring adults. Explorers are taught how to be independent and work as a team. In addition, they are taught the importance of personal responsibility and caring in their relationships with others and in their commitment to the community.

Exploring is based on a unique and dynamic relationship between youth and the organizations in their communities. Local community organizations, such as the Banning Police Department, initiate a specific Explorer Program to offer the wealth and knowledge of their best employees to be role models, trainers, and mentors to young people in the community. The Explorer Program affords an opportunity for youngsters to participate in a variety of meaningful and fulfilling activities that help them pursue their special interests, growth, and development. Explorer programs are based on five area of emphasis: career opportunities, life skills, citizenship, character education, and leadership experience.

The Banning Police Explorer Program has approximately five (5) Explorers ranging in age of 14 to 21 years old. 

The success of the Banning Police Department’s Explorer Program is dependent on the Officers that manage it. Our success starts with the commitment from our officers who mentor these youth and invest time into their futures.

What are the requirements to join the Explorer Program?

• Ages 14 to 21
• No criminal record
• Cannot be on probation or parole

- Maintain at least a 2.0 GPA
- Be able to attend bi-weekly meetings
- Must serve 12 hours of community service with the Explorer's each month
- Must be able to arrange transportation to the weekly meetings or events

The Banning Police Department’s Mounted Patrol Unit is a trained, fully equipped unit, capable of serving the public as a qualified resource that assists in public events by patrolling and being highly visible along with assisting for lost persons in rural areas and public relations.
 We use well-trained horses that can work in a downtown area and also search large tracts of open fields and other terrain to locate such things as lost persons.
 
Advantages of a Mounted Unit
 Horses are valuable searchers. They can cover large areas of terrain and have a highly developed sense of hearing, smell, and sight. They are instinctively aware of their surroundings and will alert on anything out of the ordinary, especially the presence of another human or animal. Mounted teams are not hindered by such things as terrain, ground cover, or length of time missing.
 They can also be a tool in an urban environment by being accessible for people to pet and talk to a rider. Additionally, the rider has a further area of vision by sitting higher and able to overlook people/vehicles. The mounted unit can also get to areas quicker by riding in between vehicles and through a crowd.
 
If you would like to join us, please contact me.
 Remember that most of our training and deployments are in the Banning area, and we do ask that each member participate in at least 50% of the meetings, deployments, and trainings.
 Also, if you are not mounted, but would like to help, we always can use help with ground command duties!
 Please contact Sol Avila at 951-849-1003. 

Volunteer Application