Newark's public safety community program

NEW JERSEY (FOX 5 NEWS) - Newark, New Jersey, is working to promote understanding between the community and the people who work to protect them. The first of several meetings was held Tuesday where police officers, firefighters and other emergency workers got to share what a day in their life is like.

It is being called the Citizens Clergy Academy. It is a space designed to knock down misconceptions and build trust with the community. Participants in the seven-week course get a look at the Department of Public Safety's police, fire and the emergency management operations. Various points of the program give residents a feel for what "a day in the life" really looks like.

Programs like this one are growing in popularity around the country. The hope is that they help answer some of the most pressing questions about how police fight crime and the strategies that they are using, the decisions they make and why they make them, and more.