Oakland is trying to combat crime not just with police but with specially trained citizens. On Monday, the 45 members of the Citizens Police Academy graduated.

During the past 14 weeks, they were given a rare behind-the-scenes look at the Oakland Police Department. The students had to do it on their own personal time.

"You are now a part of our family. We welcome to our family," Chief Howard Jordan told the 45 graduates.

The youngest is a 17-year-old college student who's an aspiring police officer.

"I want to start here," said Olivia Wright. "They say they have really good training here."

The oldest is 84-year-old Ruth Stevenson. She hopes to use her life skills to work with the public as a police volunteer. "We live in a society that is very negative," said Stevenson. "Sometimes we need to say something positive to people."

To gain a better understanding of how police officers work, these citizens rode with police officers to crime scenes. They describe it as an eye opening experience. "I saw the dead body lying on the street," said Rose Falica of the CitIzens Police Academy. "It's a human being. It's scary."

Some said they were struck by how hard many officers work with limited resources.

"I just want to be an advocate for them. They need people on their side right now," said Kyle Winward.

But another new graduate said civilian participation should extend to a police oversight commission.

"The police department takes up a phenomenal percentage of our budget. A lot of it has gone to litigation and paying off lawsuits," remarked Jan Gilbrecht.

Chief Jordan said some graduates will be invited to be part of the panel to recruit new police officers.