This week’s Citizens Police Academy class was week three of the free 10-week course available to people interested in police work.

This year was the 25th anniversary of the course and it is open to students who come from all different types of backgrounds.

Linda Stryker, a 76-year-old woman from the Oxford area said she joined the course to find out more about community policing. “You get all these ideas about how the police force works and I wanted to figure out what happens behind the scenes,” Stryker said.

As a former labor negotiator, Stryker said she knew a little bit about the court system. However, Stryker was able to get in-depth answers to her questions from one of this week’s speakers, Judge Dan Haughey.

Butler County Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Judge Haughey, explained his background and work on top of fielding questions from students. Along with this, the OPD Records Specialist and the OPD Property Technician taught lessons on records and evidence, and gave students a tour of the evidence office.

The course has evolved over 25 years and new lessons are added every year. This year, the CPA got three new classes: women’s self defense, an active threat class and a scenario-based class. “20 years ago, we didn’t have drones or a social worker,” CPA Coordinator Officer Matt Wagers said. “If something needs to be added to the course, we are willing to stay up with the times.”

According to Wagers, this year’s course has 15-18 students. About half of them are interns, as the course fulfills an internship requirement for Miami criminology students.

 Stryker said she enjoys taking the course with interns and is glad that she’s gotten to make connections and broaden her network. “I’ve made friends in the course. it’s nice to interact with young people,” Stryker said.

Stryker said other citizens can benefit from learning more about policing like she is. “Everybody has preconceived ideas and opinions but it’s better to get the facts,” Stryker said. The Citizens Police Academy is more than just teaching students what the police department does. “We want to connect with the community and let them see who we really are,” Wagers said, “When you have good communication between law enforcement and the community, issues can be resolved a lot more efficiently.”