During a time when police around the country are facing increasing scrutiny and decreasing public trust, the Lakewood Police Department offers citizens a chance to connect, ask questions, and learn about life as a police officer. Last month marked the close of the 2025 Lakewood Citizens’ Police Academy course, with a graduation ceremony attended by Mayor Meghan George and Police Chief Kevin Fischer that took place on March 31.
Participants and officers alike were excited to see the Citizens’ Police Academy return last year after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Citizens’ Police Academy has been offered in Lakewood during many of the last 25 years; however, pandemic shutdowns closed the program until spring 2024 when it reopened with a class of 22 students.
It was my dear friend, Krista Friedlander, who introduced me to the Citizens’ Police Academy last year. Friedlander, who says she is “a little obsessed with citizens’ academies now” had convinced me to take the next course. “The role of law enforcement in society is greatly misunderstood,” Friedlander says, “and any citizen can benefit from getting in front of these actual human people that dedicate their lives to this profession and hearing about the hows and whys. It’s a perspective few really know and see, and we all benefit from.”
The course is led by Lakewood Police veteran Officer Angie Ortiz, who started as a dispatcher and has recently celebrated her 25th anniversary with the City of Lakewood. “I retired, and I was back four days later,” Officer Ortiz laughs.
“She is a fantastic representative of the department, and more importantly, an even better person. I congratulate her on 25+ years of service, and the Lakewood Police Department is a much better place because she is here,” says Lakewood Police Chief Kevin Fischer.
After retiring as the community officer for Ward 2 in 2021, Ortiz is now a part-time officer and works in special operations, overseeing background investigations for the city as well as training programs and community policing programs like the Citizens’ Police Academy, which she has led since around 2007.
This year’s course ran for 12 weeks and graduated 14 students. 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.
Each student is offered an opportunity to participate in a 4-hour ride along with a Lakewood Police Officer, and every single student took advantage. What other opportunity would we have to ride with an officer during a pursuit? Besides all the excitement, the ride alongs are an excellent opportunity for participants to interview their assigned officer about the work they do in Lakewood and witness a day-in-the-life from the passenger seat of an actual patrol car. Councilwoman Marx, who has served as the Ward 4 Representative on the Lakewood City Council since 2021, was “very impressed with how well the officers worked together” after witnessing how they handled a scene during her ride along. “They are a well-oiled machine,” she adds.
I asked Officer Ortiz if she’d share some of the other participants’ responses to her surveys at the end of the course. Rave reviews include, “Truthfully, every class was wonderful!”, “Participation in the Citizens Academy provides a great perspective on the challenges the police face every day. I highly recommend this program,” as well as, “I enjoyed the personal stories told by the officers throughout the course. It was very evident that our police officers are proud of their work, as they should be,” and “Wouldn’t it be great if every citizen of Lakewood took this class?”
Meeting the K-9s and their handlers, crime scene investigation and fingerprinting, SWAT, and the bomb squad robot presentations were stand-out favorites in our interviews. Councilwoman Marx didn’t have just one favorite. “I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a single presentation.”
Most students are staying connected to the Lakewood Police Department through the alumni group, headed by Ben Jackson, a 2024 graduate. Before moving to Lakewood in 2019 from the Boston area, Jackson attended the Citizens’ Police Academy of a neighboring suburb, so he was drawn to the Lakewood Citizens’ Police Academy immediately after seeing an ad for the 2019 class. It was too late to apply that year, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had to wait until 2024 to finally get his opportunity.
He compares the two courses and finds plenty of differences in policework between our Cleveland suburb and the Boston suburb from pre-pandemic years, but he also says that “the commitment to the job is similar in both places” and that “at a time when there’s a separation between police and community, these programs are not only good for the people who come but also for the police. They get to interact with the community in a positive way.”
Ben and other students from the 2024 Lakewood Citizen’s Police Academy proposed the idea of an alumni group to Ortiz shortly after their class ended because they wanted to “keep learning and retain the connection to the Lakewood Police Department.” There had been an alumni group in the past, but the 2024 graduates revitalized the idea with a new group focused on quarterly, formal events, like marching in the Lakewood Fourth of July parade with the police department and social events, like happy hours. Alumni are invited to join future classes when new presentations are offered. This year, the alumni were able to join a new legal class covering the fourth amendment and case law regarding laws of arrest, search, and seizure and a new virtual gunrange simulator class. They were also invited to meet Pablo, Lakewood’s newest K9 officer who joined the force at the end of April last year.
Robert Bardwell, an alumni member who attended the Citizens’ Police Academy in 2024 with his wife, Kirsten, says that one of the reasons he wanted to take the course was to “build some connections with the officers that I see around town and see how I might contribute more meaningfully.” Husband and wife have both since joined the Lakewood Auxiliary Police Unit. “It has been eye-opening getting to know the officers — the same people I see working all the time but never fully appreciated what they were dealing with,” he says.
The Lakewood Auxiliary Police Unit, once known as the Civil Defense Unit, was formed in 1942, in response to the United States entering World War II. The Lakewood Police Department website states, “The type of work performed today is quite different than it was in 1942, but the level of service to the community has not diminished.”
Today, members of the Auxiliary unit assist police by providing extra support with things like traffic and crowd control for events and patrolling the parks on foot. Lieutenant Bill Deucher heads up today’s Auxiliary unit. “Public perception has changed regarding law enforcement,” says Deucher, so the Auxiliary numbers have dwindled over the years to about half of the number of people who used to be involved. The addition of new Auxiliary members from the Citizens’ Police Academy graduates helps to provide necessary coverage for traffic and crowd control. “I love coming to work every day. […] Seeing the community out enjoying these events… everyone has a good time, and everyone stays safe. That wouldn’t be possible without the help of the Auxiliary.”
The 2025 graduating class has several parties interested in joining the Auxiliary, two of whom are interviewing in April with Deucher. Mike Miechowski joined the Citizens’ Police Academy because it “looked like a good opportunity to learn about what the police do, get a better appreciation for the job they do every day, and give back to the community.” Now he is looking forward to a role in the Auxiliary so that he can be involved in community events, have a chance to meet more people, and give back.
Interested parties can apply to the Lakewood Auxiliary Police Unit on the city’s website. Applicants don’t have to live in Lakewood as long as they are reasonably close and available to assist during public events. Background checks, finger printing, and drug testing are required, and Auxiliary members are given a uniform consisting of a grey Lakewood Auxiliary Police Unit logo and navy pants.
If you missed this year’s Citizens’ Police Academy, be on the lookout for an announcement from Ortiz on the Lakewood Police Department’s Facebook page and the city website regarding next year’s course, which is expected to start in January 2026. Registration will begin this November. It will be advertised on the city website and social media outlets, and there will be space for 20 adult Lakewood residents or members who work within the community.
If you’re considering applying to next year’s course, “Do it!” says Councilwoman Marx. “Don’t miss the opportunity.”
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