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16 graduate Oregon Citizens Police Academy

Police in Oregon have new sets of eyes to help fight crime. Sixteen new members joined the department's citizen program.
The graduation ceremony was held Monday night.

OREGON, OH (Toledo News Now) - Police in Oregon have new sets of eyes to help fight crime. Sixteen new members joined the department's citizen program.

They are not actually sworn officers, but the residents have stepped up and are ready to work with police to keep Oregon safer.

A mix of 16 men and women and some younger citizen cadets graduated from the Oregon Citizens Police Academy Monday. They received a certificate and were congratulated by the police chiefs, Mayor Mike Seferian, and city council members.

The citizens attended the academy for two hours every Monday night for 10 weeks. They learned firearms safety, laws of arrest, and investigation techniques.

"We had [last year's class] help us out in our different community policing events," explained Sgt. Tony Castillo. "For example, we have them help out with our child fingerprinting. They did this last year at Oregon Fest days, and they will do it again this year. They also help us out on the days we do our drug drop off."

Chief Mike Navarre said this is only the beginning of the department's partnership with the residents. Some of the younger members actually have dreams of eventually becoming police officers.

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