Local teens experience life behind the badge
Sixteen students, representing nearly every public school district in Garland County, will graduate today from Teen Police Academy after spending a week learning about the ins and outs of law enforcement.
Over the past four years, around 300 students have completed the program, which allows them to experience, firsthand, what it is like to live behind a badge.
“They get to see a different side of us. We’re breaking stereotypes,” Hot Springs police Officer 1st Class Joey Williams said.
A series of lectures taught the students everything from how to kick-start a career in law enforcement to the practical side of investigating and processing a crime scene.
Courtney Finley, 13, of Hot Springs, said he enrolled in the program to see what members of law enforcement are like in real life. He said that he came to see that the women and men wearing that badge are real people with real emotions.
“I don’t believe anyone in their right mind goes to work each day trying to start a fight or trying to go out and shoot someone. I believe they all just want to go home to their families,” Finley said.
“To be honest, I now realize how it’s necessary for them to put on a different character so people take them seriously in the stressful situations they encounter,”
he said.
Although the program is designed to give students the opportunity to learn about a possible career path, it goes a step further and allows the students to humanize the law enforcement officers. The interactions they have with one another leave a lasting impact on both parties.
“Now I can say I know them. I know they are here to serve the community; they protect us as well but I feel they serve even more. I told them earlier that I view them as I do military personnel. They may not go fight overseas but they are here in our communities making sure we are all OK,” said Christian Hamilton, 18, of Hot Springs.
On Thursday, the students took what they learned during the lectures and applied it to mock scenarios law enforcement officers encounter frequently. The class split up into two groups where they conducted investigations of vehicle accidents and crime scenes at National Park College.
“(Officers) go out in real life and do this job every day and we have the chance to do all of that as well. It’s very interesting and fun,” Finley said.
A second Teen Police Academy scheduled for next month is already full. The program is open to students free of charge.
A Citizen Police Academy is offered to adults in the spring and fall each year. The adult course is a 10-week program.
Deluca’s Pizzeria, Firehouse Subs, West Shores, Chick-fil-A, Colton’s Steak House & Grill, and McClard’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant provided free lunches for the students each day as part of a partnership with the program.