CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Phyllis Allgood, a retired police dispatcher, has lived in Chesapeake for almost four decades and serves as chairperson for the Chesapeake Crime Line, a group of neighbors who volunteer to keep the community safe. But recently, she added another accomplishment to her list — becoming one of the oldest graduates of the Chesapeake Citizens Police Academy.
The 82-year-old completed the 50th session of the nine-week course where anyone who lives in Chesapeake can get free, hands-on experience of what it's like to be a police officer. Allgood got to see what training a police dog is like, did ride-alongs with officers in their patrol cars, and even got to shoot a rifle and a handgun.
"My husband is a former police officer. He was a sergeant with the Virginia State Police for 49 years, and I was a dispatcher," Allgood said.
Allgood retired from being a dispatcher in 2016. And with a family history in law enforcement, she knew she wanted to participate in the Citizens Police Academy.
When asked about her favorite part of the nine-week course, Allgood didn't hesitate.
"I think, shooting the guns!" Allgood said.
Allgood probably isn't the type you'd imagine shooting a rifle.
"I'm 82 years old!" Allgood said. "I've done a lot of things, but this kind of puts the icing on the cake."
Allgood and her 12 other classmates got to see it all over the past nine weeks.
"We have nine classes in the classroom, then we had four outside activities that we had to do," Allgood said.
One of those activities included target practice.
"This is the target that I shot with the nine millimeter handgun that the police officers carry," Allgood said.
Since Allgood is the chairperson for the Chesapeake Crime Line group who volunteer to keep the community safe, she says her new inside knowledge about law enforcement will help her look out for her fellow neighbors even better.
"It's so invigorating to see them, how much they enjoy their job, that they're doing to help us," Allgood said.
Now that Allgood is an alum of the Citizens Police Academy, some of the things she can do include helping transfer police cars when they need maintenance and volunteering to help Chesapeake police officers train cadets who are going through the regular police academy.
She says the biggest lesson she learned through it all is that age is just a number.
"Don't let your age hold you back!" Allgood said. "Just because you're 82-years-old, does not mean that you can't do anything. You can do whatever you want to put your mind to, when you want to do it. That's the thing. Getting yourself to put your mind to doing it."
The Chesapeake Citizens Police Academy will host another nine-week-course course for citizens in the Spring.
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