PORTAGE | Dave Schultz always wanted to be a police officer, but things happened in life that took him another direction, until now.

Sherri Waters and Nicole Rodriguez are both on the road to becoming police officers.

Lisa Leach is giving up transporting youngsters to being on the front line of public safety.

Schultz, Waters, Rodriguez and Leach are four of the 14 members of the Portage Police Department's inaugural Portage Citizens Police Academy, which just wrapped up its 10-week session. For each of them, the experience has directly impacted their lives.

"My whole life I always wanted to be a cop," said Schultz, adding instead, he got married, had children and worked another job. When he saw that the Portage Police Department was starting a citizens police academy, he jumped at the chance to apply.

Ten weeks later Schultz is also applying to become a reserve member of the department.

Both Waters and Rodriguez are college students, studying criminal justice, with the ultimate goal of becoming a police officer.

"This has been awesome," Waters said of the academy. "I've learned a lot. I learned I really want it (becoming a police officer) more."

Rodriguez echoed Waters.

"It has just made my desire stronger," she said.

Leach has been a Portage Township Schools bus driver for eight years. She won't be returning behind the wheel this fall. Instead, she's going through the steps of becoming a department dispatcher.

Members of the department's first citizens academy were introduced to all aspects of police work, from dispatching to patrol, from crime scene investigation to canines, from the department's history to technology, firearms training, undercover narcotics work and more. Each Wednesday night since late May the participants met in the department's training room and listened to officers and other department employees tell their stories.

It was the stories of Capt. Mike Vaughan and Lt. Cliff Burch that touched member Judy Jowaziak the most. Both told, in detail, their involvement with police shootings and how it affected their lives.

For Leach, the mother of two, it was listening to Cpl. Troy Williams, who serves as the school resource officer, talking about drugs in schools and on the streets.

"Being a bus driver, we never had that kind of education," she said.

While most of the activities took place in the classroom, there was some hands-on training too. Members participated in Firearms Training Simulation, a scenario where they had to decide when to shoot at a suspect. There was also a tour of the SWAT truck. Most took advantage of the offer to spend a shift in a patrol car with an officer on the streets. Most said the most fun they had was during the EVOC - Emergency Vehicle Operations Course - training held in LaPorte County where participants got to drive police cars full out around the course.

"We had experiences citizens don't usually get to have," said the Rev. Tim Engel, who serves as department chaplain. "It gave us a lot of insights, a basic understanding into the different areas of the department."

Assistant Police Chief Larry Jolley called the department's first experience with a citizens academy a success.

"It is the first class and I didn't know what to expect. It has been an awesome experience for us," Jolley told participants at a recent academy graduation ceremony. Jolley said the department plans to host the academy again next year.

Other participants were Barbara Layton-Collins, Pam Jones, Mike Sarver, Julio Velazquez, Pastor Duane Schmidt, Dave Kasarda and Dave Burhans.