2025 Citizens Police Academy graduates, from left to right (back row) Matheus Sena, Jason Lord, Jace Weaver, Karen Buscemi, Chief Mark Zimmerman, Seani Thomas, Jack O’Leary, and Steve Ferrari, (middle row) Melissa Bellavance, Yvonne Sorensen, Kim Kolodzieczak, Arya Kolodzieczak, Susan Luckiewicz, Lieutenant Derek Howe, Anna Sorensen, Marilyn Henderson and Instructor Amy Luckiewicz, (front row) Instructor Laura Miranda, Marshall Murray, Jeet Shangari and Lieutenant Joseph Thibodeau. (Photo Courtesy North Reading Police Sgt. Michael Marra) Officer Cameron Smith takes Citizen’s Police Academy graduate Marilyn Henderson, who is 91, on a ride-along. (Photo Courtesy North Reading Police)
NORTH READING — Police Chief Mark Zimmerman is pleased to announce that the North Reading Police Department hosted the department’s first Citizens Police Academy, with 17 residents graduating.
The eight-week academy was held every Tuesday for two hours from Feb. 25 through April 15 and was open to all residents. Approximately seven participants were from North Reading High School, and participants’ ages ranged from 16 to 91.
North Reading Police opened registration for the academy over the winter to fill 20 spots and received an overwhelming amount of interest from the public. The department had 35 people sign up.
Each week, members of North Reading Police discussed a variety of topics centered around policing, and after every class, anonymous feedback was collected, allowing the subject matter to highlight class interests. High-ranking topics included public and officer mental health, firearms requirements, substance use, cybercrime, and SWAT.
After completion of the academy, graduates were invited to complete a two-hour ride-along with a member of the department and a 30-minute simulation session.
“The ride-along and simulator really add to this experience,” said Chief Zimmerman. “Graduates get to see hands-on the day-to-day of a front-line officer and then experience some more stressful simulations that our officers complete for their training requirements.”
Throughout the academy, North Reading Police were able to get feedback, answer questions, and form strong bonds with residents. The academy allowed participants to get a deeper look into how the department operates.
North Reading resident Marilyn Henderson, age 91, stated, “This was so interesting. You only hear the bad things sometimes with police, but this was nothing but a good experience.”
Another participant stated after completing the academy, “I have more of an appreciation of how difficult the job of a policeman is these days. It gives me more respect for the police.”
Chief Zimmerman would like to thank the graduates for their commitment throughout this course.
“The public shows a lot of trust in us daily, and this course reinforced that,” Chief Zimmerman added, “We kept it a priority to make sure that the sixteen hours of core instruction that took them away from their families and friends met their expectations.”
Approximately 19 North Reading Police officers and staff helped facilitate the program.
“This was an amazing team effort. Each officer and staff member was able to demonstrate their knowledge, professionalism and high standards, and the feedback from the participants showed how much that was appreciated,” said Chief Zimmerman.
Encouraged by the immense interest and feedback, North Reading Police hopes to offer the Citizens Police Academy to the community next year.
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