VANCOUVER, Wash. — Regan Cooke has never let go of her childhood dream.
"I think every kid thinks that they want to be a firefighter or police officer at some point, I just never outgrew it," Cooke said.
It stayed with her through high school and she says she was hooked after going on a ride along with a Vancouver police officer during her senior year.
"I was like, 'This is it!'" Cooke said.
After graduating from Camas High School in 2019, she attended Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman where she graduated two years later with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and criminology.
When she graduated WSU, she was too young to join the academy. In Washington state, a person needs to be 20 at the time they apply and 21 years of age at the time of hire. The dream of being a police officer never left Cooke's mind; it was just briefly put on hold. She went to work at the Whitman County District Court where she learned more about the process as someone goes through the legal system.
After spending time in the AmeriCorps for a year, she moved back Clark County and started her journey to achieving her childhood dream.
When it came time to take the physical fitness test to become a police officer, Cooke said she joined a gym in Washougal.
"I went to the gym, started doing all these workouts, and the owner knew what I wanted to do and helped focus on my push-up form and things like that," Cooke said.
The gym's owner introduced her to an older man she had seen pushing himself through hard workouts of his own.
"I always noticed Chuck because he was always going 100%," Cooke said. "I always noticed him, but didn't know who he was."
The man was Chuck Dozé, the Washington County Sheriff's deputy who was shot seven times in the line of duty back in July when he and other deputies were evicting a man from inside an apartment in Tualatin.
"One in each elbow, three in the chest, one on the right side of my head that grazed me, and I got a six-inch scar and the last bullet struck me in the left temple," Dozé said, pointing out the multiple places he was hit. "It was a day I won't soon forget."
A month after the shooting, Dozé was in the same gym he had been going to for years when he was introduced to Regan.
"She just had a really bright sense about her, she had bright eyes. She's very articulate and smart. She knew what she wanted to do," Dozé said.
When she first met him, Cooke's nerves set in.
"I kind of froze up, I didn't know what to say," Cooke said. "I asked if he had any advice and he said, 'Don't get shot. It hurts.'"
She thought that would be the last time she spoke with him, not knowing the introduction would blossom into a friendship over the next several months.
"He'd check in on me and see how things were going. We'd kind of joke around and at the end of every day he'd look at me and be like, 'Be safe out there,'" Cooke said.
She said she looked at Dozé as her mentor.
In November, Regan's dream of becoming a police officer came true. She accepted a job with the Vancouver Police Department. In January, she started her training at the Southwest Washington Regional Academy in Vancouver where she would spend the next four months training to become a police officer. In May, after four months of training and lessons, it was time to graduate.
"Congratulations!" Dozé told Cooke before the ceremony.
As Cooke and her classmates at the academy walked to their seats, Dozé was there beaming with pride, watching her dream come to life.
"Very emotional. I remember when I got sworn in. I'm just glad to be here and share this experience with her," Dozé said. "She's an incredible young lady."
"From the Vancouver Police Department, officer Regan Cooke," the emcee of the graduation ceremony announced.
As Cooke walked to the front of the stage, she was greeted by Vancouver Police Chief Jeff Mori. She accepted her diploma, but there was just one final thing to make it official. A week prior to graduating, Cooke had a decision to make.
"So I sent him a text and he was like, 'Are you sure?" she said with a laugh. "Typical Chuck, not really understanding how much he made an impact on my life."
Back at the graduation, the emceed announced in the microphone, "Officer Cooke will be pinned by her friend Washington County Deputy Chuck Dozé."
The final addition to the uniform she had dreamt about wearing for years was finally complete. The pinning of the badge, an honor given to the person who's made a big impact on your life. For Cooke, that was Dozé.
"He's been a pretty big part of my life for the last six months, just to be that person that I can reach out to and look up to," Cooke said.
With that final touch, came one more piece of advice from Dozé.
"I told her she earned this badge and she'll have to earn it every day from here on out," he said.
A challenge Cooke seems ready to handle.
"I'm excited to be able to tell the stories," Cooke said after the ceremony, standing next to Dozé. "I've heard a lot of his stories, so to be able to return the favor and hopefully in a couple of years take him on a ride along, that would be my goal."
Dozé laughed and said, "That would be fun!"