CINCINNATI — Justin Sedgwick can't quite put into words why he's always wanted to be a police officer, but the moment of clarity dawned on him inside an eighth-grade classroom.

"I was like, 'I want to be a police officer,'" the 21-year-old said. "And it's just something I've never really been able to explain. It's just I had that feeling. I wanted to help people. I want to make a difference in this community."

What Sedgwick can explain is how the Cincinnati Police Department Understudy Program has prepared him for what comes next. As one of the original 12 high school graduates who joined in 2023, Sedgewick is now poised to enter the police academy with experience that many of his peers won't have.

"The things that they teach at the academy, some of that is not going to be new to us," S

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