Dakota Podlaski’s dream, since he was 2 years old, was to be a police officer. The late 20-year-old’s story continues to live on as his parents award criminal justice students with the same passion Dakota once had.

From a very young age, Podlaski wanted to become a police officer.

“To be a policeman was one of the things that he always thought he was going to do,” Dakota’s mother Veronica Podlaski said. “As a kid, he always ran around in the police hats, the uniforms, trying to cuff people, trying to chase after police cars. Even as he got older, he always listened to that radio to see what was going on.”

From dressing up in his favorite policeman attire to joining the Monroe County Police Explorers in high school, Dakota always wanted to protect and serve his community, according to his parents.

“Generous to a fault, and probably one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to have met,” Dakota’s father, Robert Podlaski, said. “One of the last pictures that I took of him was him sitting in a Monroe County Sheriff’s car when he was 16 years old. And he said, ‘it won’t be too much longer until I won’t have to ask to sit in this.’”

“He went from wanting to be a police officer to being evidence in his own trial and his own murder.”

On May 27, 2020, Dakota was killed in a drive-by shooting. Prosecutors say Dakota was not the intended victim of the shooting, but rather an innocent bystander.

Family and friends memorialize him through the small things. Keeping his memory alive, Dakota’s parents are honoring his wish of being a police officer by giving back to students with the same passion through an annual poker run.

“[We’re] raising money for a scholarship at MCC [Monroe Community College] for a criminal justice student,” Robert said. “After he was murdered, we established this scholarship in his name. We award $500 every year to a criminal justice student who aspires to be a police officer.”

Now in its fourth year awarding aspiring police officers, his parents hope his story will not only show the impact gun violence has had on the community but also inspire future generations of Dakota’s dream to serve and protect others.

“There’s too many homicides going on in the city that they’re all getting,” Veronica said. “They’re all just kind of in this graveyard all together. I want them to know that he’s not going anywhere. And neither are all the others out there that are the mothers who are just living the same story. We just have to all come together at some point; it’s gotta end.”

Participants can make a memorial gift online at www.monroecc.edu or call (585) 685-6020.