Former Law Enforcement Explorer sworn in as police officer

By LYNETTE SOWELL 

Cove Leader-Press 

Christopher Lanza has always wanted to be a police officer, and on Monday morning, Lanza, a member of the CCHS class of 2019, officially joined the ranks as one of the Copperas Cove Police Department’s newest patrol officers during a swearing in ceremony. 

Lt. Martin Ruiz welcomed Lanza’s family, other members of the community, as well as city administration and officials, and fellow officers. 

“Usually, I have a lot of stories with our with our guys who come work here,” Ruiz said, calling Lanza a very, very bright young man. “He actually put himself through the night academy while he held a fulltime job during the day. It’s a lot of work and took about a year. 

“He actually has already been in our department. He was a former Explorer of ours when he was in high school. He did that for approximately a year, and he was 15 at the time. But he always wanted to come work here, and he reached his goal.”

Ruiz said that other officers sometimes get their start in dispatch and also, the Explorer program gets youth interested in law enforcement. 

“He stuck with it. He told me the stories of being in the academy, and some of the guys back there were in the academy with him. They said it’s long, it’s hard and it’s tough to get through. I said, ‘You think that’s tough? Wait until you get here and the real training starts.’”

After Officer Lanza was sworn in and his mother pinned him with his badge, Chief of Police Eddie Wilson talked about the unique aspect of Lanza’s hiring. 

“This is a very incredibly difficult position to get into. It’s one of those positions that it’s hard to get into, but we offer everybody an opportunity to have a chance. When you apply with Copperas Cove Police Department, everybody gets a trial, but there’s a lot of steps to get to where Christopher is today,” Wilson said. “What I really admire about him the most is, we don’t hire very many certified peace officers in Copperas Cove. It’s difficult. So when it does happen, it’s very special. It’s really special when you find somebody who took his own time to put himself through the police academy. It takes a lot of commitment, a lot of hard work to do that and work another job at the same time. 

“One of the reasons it’s difficult to be a police officer in the city of Copperas Cove is we don’t expect you to have any experience. We don’t need experience. We don’t need any of that stuff. We’re going to teach you what you need to know to be a police officer. But it’s a certain type of person that we really look to have, to be a special person. 

“First and foremost, they’ve got to be a good person, because it’s hard to teach good, it really is, and Christopher has demonstrated that as an Explorer for our organization, and I’m confident he will continue to demonstrate that.”