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Tuesday, March 19
The Indiana Daily Student

Teenagers attend police academy

Teenagers do morning drills Wednesday at Bloomington's first Teen Police Academy.

Turning on the television today, it’s hard to avoid stories about altercations with the police. Whether it’s about racial discrimination or excessive brutality, the current media environment has created a growing distrust of America’s law enforcement. One way to counter that, Bloomington police officers said, is with education.

This week, the Bloomington Police Department is offering the city’s first Teen Police Academy. Forty-one teenagers ages 13-17 are being treated to a week of hands-on activities to help them better understand what it takes to enter the force.

“Especially in this environment, with the things going on with law enforcement nationally, having an opportunity for kids to see us and see what we do and why we do the things that we do, it’s critical,” said Lt. Steven Kellams, the officer in charge of the program.

Some of the activities include firearm safety training, learning about police dogs, memory exercises, discussions on ethics and even a simulated school bus assault. Though the program is designed to teach the kids, it’s also about having a good time and getting the teens active.

“I’ve been telling these kids that they have it made because, back when I was younger, I didn’t have anything as intense or detailed as this,” Officer Corey Mims, one of the camp’s leaders, said. “If I had, I probably would have chosen law enforcement a lot sooner than I did.”

Kellams said inspiring attendees to pursue careers as officers is one of the main goals of the program.

“From a recruiting standpoint, the numbers have definitely dropped over the years for a variety of reasons,” he said. “The applicant pools aren’t necessarily what they used to be, and we’ve been working hard to increase diversity in the force, so this is a great opportunity to help us do that.”

A lot of people don’t understand the level of passion and hard work it takes to be an officer, Kellams said. Most officers need a college degree and go through a minimum 16 hours of continuing education each year.

“On top of all that, you have the physical demands and the emotional and stress demands,” Kellams said. “Having to make those sometimes life or death decisions in the blink of an eye takes a toll.”

By explaining these aspects of the job to the teenagers, Kellams said he hopes they will gain a deeper appreciation for the officers they see around town.

“They’ve shown us that they’re really kind and they’re not as bad as everybody perceives them to be,” said Amber Shockey, a 15 year old participating in the program. “They explain exactly how they handle situations, and understanding them makes them less scary.”

Shockey hopes to be a police officer one day but said she now knows it will take more hard work than she expected.

“I’ve learned that it’s not as easy as it looks,” she said, rubbing her arms she said were still aching from that morning’s drill, “They’ve shown us exactly what it takes.”

Kellams said the academy has been a great success so far and the department hopes to continue the program each year. Though 21 is the minimum age to be sworn in as a police officer, he said many of the campers are already showing a lot of potential.

“This is an extremely difficult career and if you’re not passionate about it, you can’t do it well,” Kellams said. “It’s so great because we’ve got a lot of kids here who are just 14 or 15 years old and are already showing that level of passion.”

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