After taking a hiatus last year, the Alaska State Trooper Citizen Academy will be returning in 2020, and the deadline to register is only a week away.

The Citizen Academy is a series of weekly classes that run from Jan. 14 to March 17 and provide citizens with an in-depth look at what life is like for an Alaska State Trooper. Lt. Michael Zweifel, deputy commander for the Soldotna State Troopers, said the academy shows people some of the training that troopers go through, as well as the various responsibilities they have on a day-to-day basis.

“This is a way to show that there’s a lot more to the job than just the car on the side of the highway that you see handing out tickets,” Zweifel said.

The Citizen Academy is open to anyone over the age of 16, although Zweifel said that applicants under the age of 18 will require parental approval. The application and participation in the academy are free of charge, but the application process does include a background check.

“There’s no cost to the academy except three hours of your day every Tuesday,” Zweifel said.

The academy will have classes every Tuesday between Jan. 14 and March 17 from 6 to 9 p.m. Zweifel said that classes will cover topics like rural law enforcement, the roles of wildlife troopers and crash and crime scene investigation. One of the classes will take place on a Saturday, Zweifel said, and will focus on the aerial resources available to troopers with a special appearance by one of their A-Star 350 helicopters based out of Anchorage.

Applications for the academy can be found online at the Department of Public Safety’s website or picked up at the Soldotna State Trooper Post on Kalifornsky Beach Road. Applications must be submitted in person, and the deadline to register is Dec. 27 at 4:30 p.m.