Youth Academy Provides Unique Opportunities For Area Children

When it comes to summer vacation, most children around the area think of things like sports camps and sleep away camps and just making a short trip to the Jersey Shore. Things like discipline and marching and saluting usually are not among the most popular words in their vocabulary.

That was not the case for a select group of area residents who came to the Monmouth County Fire Academy this week for the Howell Police Department's second annual Law Enforcement Youth Academy. With the help of officers from Eatontown as well as the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department and a special planned visit from a state police helicopter the week long camp provided many memorable experiences for the cadets.

Sergeant Chris Hill of the Community Services Bureau said the camp is a chance for kids in the area who have an interest in law enforcement to see what it is all about. "They go through exactly what we did in the morning at the police academy," he said. "We got there early, we waited for the drill instructors to come in and they just took over from there."

Even in its second year, the camp has seen more cadets fill its ranks and Hill said it was thanks to Chief Ronald Carter's support in helping to get the program off the ground. 

For this camp, the drill instructor was Howell Officer John Lopez. Hill said even for him, Lopez  makes himself a lot like the real thing for the cadets. "He's bringing back memories, that's why I'm staying away from him," he said with a laugh.

Lopez teaches the cadets the basics when it comes to drill training including how to march properly, how to salute and also how to work as a team. He said as a former drill instructor with the police academy, where he also trained some of his colleagues in the department, the camp is a good chance to teach a potential future generation of officers. "It's volunteer so I think it's very rewarding for me to see these young folks come out and experience some of that military style of discipline and culture," he said.

When the cadets arrive at the academy the first day, Lopez said most of them are new to the discipline it takes to be in the program, but that it is a point of pride to see how far they come in the five days. "The most rewarding part of it is toward the last day when they're actually marching and looking like a team," he said. "At about that third day is when they start gelling and marching like a team."

Part of the program includes teaching leadership skills, which Lopez said is taught by the appointment of a platoon leader and four squad leaders. With everyone working together, cohesion comes making everyone more successful. 

Hill said over the course of the five days the cadets learn things like finger printing, motor vehicle stops and how to handle a crime scene including how to handcuff a perpetrator. "They're getting a taste of it and a lot of them are realizing that it's not just us guys riding around in uniforms with a gun," he said. 

They also learn about the work that K-9 Units do with four legged visitors from the department and the sheriff's office showing how they not only detect things like bombs and drugs, but also subdue suspects while out in the field.

Corporal Kevin Steinard and Patrolman Maureen McBride are also two of the representatives from the department who said they ejoy taking the time to be a part of the camp. "It's good to see kids from the area come in and challenge themselves and by the end of the week have a great feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment," Steinard said.

He said the progression from the first day to the last is one of the best parts of the week. "You can see some of them are very nervous the first day. They don't know if they can get through it to the point where they're almost not sure if they're going to come back the next day and some of them even want to go home early the first day." 

Watching them get over that initial trepidation  and helping them through it makes for a very memorable week he said. 

McBride, who was one of Lopez's trainees said she also enjoys seeing them progress from the first day to the last. "It's rewarding for them and also rewarding for us, especially by Friday," she said. "This is a good start for them."

She said the hope is that some of the cadets will one day join the department's explorer program which itself has gone on to produce some of the officers in the local department as well as on the state level.

Explorers start at the age of 14 or eight grade graduates and can serve in that capacity until the age of 21. Steinard said on the current force there are six or seven officers who started their law enforcement careers at the explorer level.

For more information on the explorer program contact Sergeant Hill at 732-938-4575 ext. 2897.