20 people were scheduled and appeared for the first Lakewood Police Department Citizen Academy. The course is an immersive study into the background and assets of a modern police force.
It is a series of 10 classes that will happen in September and October, most on Thursday nights, with two of the classes happening on Saturdays.
Chief of Police Mike Zaro opened the evening with welcome and a general overview then introduced the City Manager John Caulfield. Caulfield impressed upon the class the value to the City that it placed upon those in attendance. He then introduced the overall presenter, Lieutenant Andy Gildehaus.
The class attendees were composed of many in enforcement who took this as an opportunity to better understand the breadth of the role a force like Lakewood’s has in the myriad of tasks handed to it 24/7. Classes scheduled range from Community Policing and K9 patrol and mental health units to Unmanned Aerials, firearms, dispatch, and ‘Emergency Vehicle Operations Course’.
An additional report on the Academy will follow around halfway and another at the culmination of the course.
A few elderly ladies have told me that they need a class of helping stores & customers by not harassing them by following them into the 8224 Steilacoom Blvd Walgreens to issue a $260 ticket for having one tire an inch on the parking line. At least 2 women have gotten tickets at this store in the same fashion, not in their vehicle, but inside the store! A 5 mile over the limit ticket is $160 I was also told, so why would a tire on a parking line 1″ be such a horrible offense versus speeding? Anyway we stopped shopping at this store for that reason due to a mean and lazy Lakewood Cop!