Farrar Named Finalist For 'America's Most Wanted' Award

Bret Farrar will tell you that he is Lakewood’s most accidental celebrity.

Lakewood’s police chief had no idea when he started his career in law enforcement more than two decades years ago that he would be so well-known, and not just on the city’s streets, either.

Now, Farrar’s star power is going national: He is in the running for the All-Star Award from "America’s Most Wanted." In addition to being the first of eight finalists selected for the 2011 honor, he will be featured in a short clip when the show airs this Saturday at 9 p.m.

“It’s a little weird, but it’s cool, though,” Farrar said. “It’s been a lot of fun. Everyone is having a really good time with it.”

Voting begins April 21 and runs to May 8. People can vote once a day at http://www.amw.com/allstar/2011/.

As a weekly finalist, Farrar will receive an “America’s Most Wanted” duffle bag filled with show merchandise. The grand-prize winner will be honored with a $10,000 check at a May ceremony in Washington, D.C., and also wins a trip to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Challenge in North Carolina in late spring.

Farrar, who was nominated by Kalina Miller, with whom he works with on the city’s Public Safety Board, said that he had no idea about the contest. He and his wife were at the beach when he received a congratulatory e-mail from  “America’s Most Wanted.”

At first, he was a little skeptical, but “the more I looked at it, the more real it looked.”

He placed a call to the show – and the people of Lakewood got to work.

The contest started last Monday, but Farrar’s entry actually wasn’t posted until Wednesday.

“In four and a half days, we basically took the whole week’s voting,” he said with a hint of pride. “People around here just love to help and get behind a cause and have been really good to us.

“Even before the tragedy with our officers, the community was always really good to our department.”

In her nomination letter, Miller said that Farrar is “a mentor to me and a wonderful example to many through his strong leadership and his commitment to the community despite his battle with cancer.”

Farrar said he appreciates the support he gets from the people he serves.

“It’s a win for me, but it’s also a win for the community,” Farrar said. “They told me that it’s all about the community getting behind you. When I heard that, I thought, oh man, the poor other nominees. They don’t know community support like I’ve seen.”

The nomination also has provided some entertainment around the department – the other officers give Farrar a hard time about being on TV so frequently. A case he worked on in the 1990s was actually profiled on “America’s Most Wanted.”

“It’s a matter of us getting a hold of them when there is a case,” he said, giving the example of the 2009 fatal shooting of four Lakewood Police officers at a coffee shop near Parkland. Had the person responsible not been apprehended, he said, the department would have contacted “America’s Most Wanted” to expand the scope of their search.

Farrar said that the nature of his work makes such a nomination especially welcome.

“What we do is always so serious; life and death, so to have something to focus on and have fun with is very beneficial.”

As for all of the attention he gets, Farrar said it still takes him by surprise.

“It’s really ridiculous, actually,” he said with a laugh. “When the votes came in, everyone was saying ‘They like you,’ and I said ‘Really?’ Then my wife will go, ‘Really? I love you and all, but …’

Laughing again, he confessed, “She and my daughter keep me grounded.”