Have you ever wanted to ride along with a police officer? Applications are open for the 2026 Lakewood Citizen’s Police Academy. Students will spend 10 weeks learning about the Lakewood Division of Police through presentations and hands-on activities. This year’s course will take place over 10 weeks of evening classes, starting Wednesday January 7, 2026 and continuing through March 11. Interested parties must live or work in Lakewood, submit an application by December 5th, and undergo a background check to participate.
The Land’s Sharyn Arai wrote about her experience with the 2025 Lakewood Citizen’s Police Academy earlier this year. Her entire article is available at the preceding link, but you can read a snippet below.
“I had the privilege of a front row seat from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 every Wednesday evening from Jan. 15 through March 27. My classmates varied in age from high school student to senior citizen, with the youngest being a Lakewood High School student who won a spot in the class by winning an essay-writing contest about future career goals and how the Citizens’ Police Academy would be beneficial to their future.
“I sat near two Lakewood City Councilmembers, Cindy Marx and Bryan Evans. It was only a few weeks in when we discovered that Gabe Goldman, who sat directly next to me in class, has a grandchild who is close friends with one of my kids. Gabe joined the class not just because he wanted to have a better sense of what policework entails in our community, but also because he wanted to get to know our community police officers as individuals and see the contributions they make on the job every day.
“The 2025 course presentations ranged from classic sessions on traffic stops and narcotics to SWAT, and new sessions covered Crisis Intervention Training and a bonus class trying a shooting range virtual reality simulator. We toured the Lakewood Police Department building, the jail, and got to see the department’s indoor gun range. Our class tried on tourniquets and learned hands-on buddy and self-aid. We even got to act out pulling cars over in the garage and try on the blast suit. Stories from the dispatchers made a few of us question our career choices and seriously consider applying for a job on the spot. The old adage reads absolutely true – you don’t yet know what you don’t yet know! It was truly an invaluable educational experience.”
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