Where Cops are the Camp Counselors

At 7:55 on Monday morning, the Scotch Plains Police Department's Junior Academy looked like any children's day camp. Instructors chatted with teenage volunteers, parents drove away in their SUVs and boys and girls stood about in the sun, wearing matching hats, t-shirts and athletic shorts.

Five minutes later, Officer David Lavery ran the American flag up the pole outside the Union County Police Academy. Once the instructors took roll call, day one of the second week of the Junior Academy  was underway.

"Get into formation!" Lavery yelled.

"Stop talking! That means shut your mouth," Officer Chris Ostrowski said.

"Does that line look straight?" Detective Shawn Johnson said.

The campers, ages 12 to 14, soon looked sharp, marching in a column and moving as a single body.

"It's two weeks of a condensed police academy," Sergeant Ernesto Hernandez said, "The goal is to let the kids get a glimpse of what it is like to be a police officer."

In just the first week, the Junior Academy had demonstrations from a SWAT team and mounted police. The campers also learned from an Auto Theft Training Force and a Firearms Training System.

Physical training began at 8:30 a.m., with stretches and jogging around the Police Academy building. Matthew Richmond, 13, said he was not intimidated by the loud demands coming from his instructors.

"I love the officers," he said. "They could be really strict and nice at the same time….Outside of this, they're really nice people. They'd do anything for you." This was Richmond's third year at the camp.

At 9:30, Sergeant Justine Kennedy led a demonstration on first aid. With 21 years of experience working with the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad, she taught campers how to control bleeding from a dangerous car accident, how to check blood pressure and how to safely move an injured victim. She also gave the campers a tour of one of the rescue squad's ambulances.

Next, the campers and instructors gathered in front of the academy facility to watch a New Jersey State Police helicopter land in the parking lot. As the helicopter touched down, the thrust from the rotors forced campers to choose between covering their ears from the engine's roar or their eyes from dust swept-up by the propellers. State police officers then discussed the benefits of providing aid through the air.

After lunch, the campers focused on crime scene investigation simulations. They worked to solve a hit-and-run, a bank robbery, a motor vehicle theft and the distribution of illegal drugs.

At 1 p.m., members of Union County fire departments talked about their jobs as paid and volunteer firefighters. They then took the campers outside to demonstrate how to rescue a person trapped in a burning car – in this case, a Toyota minivan.

Campers cringed and cheered as firefighters shattered the windshield and front windows of the van with a sledgehammer, pried open the front doors, and ripped off the roof. When the demonstration ended, and the firefighters had nothing left from the vehicle to destroy, the campers walked back inside.

There, they learned that being a police officer is not merely fun, action, and excitement. Standing before the assembled campers, Sgt. Hernandez discussed the dangers of working as a police officer. He talked about explored deaths in the line of duty, some caused intentionally by aggressive criminals and others caused completely by accident. Although only one Scotch Plains police officer has died while on duty (Florance J. O'Sullivan, the Chief of Police, who died in 1921 in a motorcycle accident), Hernandez reminded campers that today's police officers still risk their lives everyday to maintain safe communities.

Toward the end of the afternoon, the members of the Junior Academy marched together once more. Then they dispersed, rejoining their families in the SUVs, another day of summer camp at an end.

Check back later today for a video of the campers and the helicopter landing.

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