For a group of 24 concerned citizens, a Thursday evening graduation ceremony marked the end of a beginning.
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HOME PAGE SLIDESHOW PHOTO: Matthew Wildermuth, a graduate of the Bellefontaine Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy Class 4, goes in for a hug from Sgt. Allen Shields as Chief Brandon Standley, right, and Lt. Rick Herring clap during the Thursday evening graduation ceremony. ABOVE: Kathy Comer, president of the Bellefontaine Police Department’s Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni Association, cuts the cake during the Thursday evening graduation ceremony at Café 212. (EXAMINER PHOTOS | REUBEN MEES) |
While the event was the culmination of a journey of “education, awareness, relationship-building and self-discovery,” it was not the destination for the Bellefontaine Police Department’s Citizens Police Academy Class 4, Brenda Sanford told her fellow graduates.
“It is just a nice rest stop, like the picturesque lookout point on a winding road up a mountain,” the class speaker said. “We get to take this evening to stop and look back over our last 12 weeks to see where we have been. Then we need to get back in our cars for we have more to see and more to do …
“We can be the positive voice when we hear people criticize law enforcement officers, whether they are from our community or not. We can be interested and concerned citizens when we see suspicious activity going on in our neighborhoods and make a call to our dispatchers. We can keep the journey going by continuing to ride along with officers and connect with them in the community. And we can encourage everyone we know to get more involved, perhaps even attend a future CPA themselves,” Mrs. Sanford said.
Her sentiments were shared by Matthew Wildermuth and Merrill “Junior” Baker, two individuals with developmental disabilities who completed the class and addressed classmates at the graduation ceremony.
They discussed the highlights of the class, which involved learning firearms safety hands on and getting their pictures taken in a jail cell.
“When I started, I didn’t know what to expect. The officer I met helped me learn about laws and was there to answer my questions,” Mr. Baker said. “I will never forget this experience and will keep doing it until I kick the bucket.”
Read complete story in Friday’s Examiner.
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