Lakewood Police Citizen Academy

[Jim O'Bryan]

Lakewood Police Citizen Academy

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a police officer, what’s inside the patrol cars, or what the police shooting range is like, then the Police Citizen Academy is for you. If you’re one of the millions who watch Law and Order, then why sit and watch fiction when you can talk to the detectives who process crime scenes in Lakewood.

Beginning February 1, The Lakewood Police Department will offer a nine-week program designed to take the public behind the scenes. The class will meet on Wednesdays from six to nine p.m. Classes will be held in the training room at the Police Department at 12650 Detroit Avenue. The course is free.

Lakewood residents get to see police officers in a different setting. Sgt. Bruce Wilkins, class coordinator, said, “We are not teachers, instructors, but we are people who come to work every day. Most of us are here because we want to be here, not because we have to be.â€Â￾

In the nine week course, participants will:
Tour the police department and correctional facility
Review patrol procedures, including equipment installed in a patrol car
Meet with special operations, including youth resource officers, DARE and crime prevention
Meet with detectives and learn how a crime is processed.
Review SWAT, Hazardous Device Technician (Bomb squad) and the K9 patrol
Attend a class on terrorism awareness through Homeland Security
Learn how cases are processed in the courts
Learn about the use of lethal and non-lethal force, self-defense, and visit the shooting range
Review CPR

Attendees will meet Judge Carroll and Mayor George. They will also be able to schedule a ride-along with a police officer (after graduation).

Enrollment is easy. Phone 529-6781 to enroll. It’s a one page application and includes a background check. You must be 18 years of age and a resident of Lakewood.







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[Mike Deneen]

I highly, highly, highly recommend this program to anyone!!

I did it a few years ago and found it to be incredibly interesting.

You learn all sorts of things, and get to meet many of Lakewood's Finest.

You even get to go on a ride-along when you graduate.

[rita ryland]

In a call to Sgt. Bruce Wilkins, he said the Academy will not be held this year. Not enough people signed up. Maybe next year. The observer will help get the word out in advance.