By Malcolm Butler
Seventeen local junior high-aged students participated in this week first session of the Youth Cadet Academy hosted by the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office.
LPSO Chief Deputy Landon Hunt said that this is the third year that the academy has been offered, an event that has grown in popularity since the first year.
“We have received nothing but positive feedback from the campers and the parents,” said Hunt about previous youth academies. “We were only planning on doing one session the first year, but we had so many parents reach out to us that we decided to do two every year. I think we have a waiting list.”
Hunt said that this week’s camp was the largest ever and that the second session of the camp has already been filled up. He said the idea behind the camp is to foster relationships with area kids.
“The idea was to engage our youth to build relationships with them,” said Hunt. “To give them the opportunity to know us and trust us, and to give us the opportunity to get to meet them. I think our guys get just as much from this youth academy as the kids do.”
The camp is three days and according to Hunt, each day builds upon what the campers learned and experienced the previous day.
The first day (Tuesday) included the campers learning about the affects of alcohol on driving.
“We instructed them on our how officers do the field sobriety test,” said Hunt. “We have some goggles that they can put on that simulates what its like to be under the influence of alcohol. We do the walk and turn test with them so they can see how they don’t have any motor function, no balance.
Hunt said they then utilize Polaris Rangers as the mode of transportation that the cadet campers can see what its like to drive while wearing the goggles.
“We let them drive through the cones without the goggles on and then we put the goggles on them and let them drive through the cones,” said Hunt. “I think its a real eye opener. We had several cone demolished.”
Colton Beard, a seventh grader at Choudrant, was one of the participants of the camp and said the opportunity to experience “driving intoxicated” was educational.
“We learned that you don’t need to drive drunk,” said Beard. “It’s harder than just driving normal. It’s dangerous to drive drunk and you shouldn’t do it.”
Tuesday afternoon the participants learned how to lift fingerprints, learned about traffic stops and heard from the narcotics officers on how they conduct investigations.
“We explained to them this is what marijuana looks like. This is what cocaine looks like,” said Hunt. “The first day was showing them how we do everything.”
Hunt said the second day included working a mock crime scene, in this case a stolen laptop.
“They went to the mock crime scene with the deputies,” said Hunt. “They take a report. Some of the kids will be the victims. Some will be the witnesses. Some of them are the officers. Some of them are the detectives. They actually get to work the scene.
“Then they simulate the traffic stop. The person who stole the laptop will be in a car and we will conduct the traffic stop. They find the laptop in the car and they arrest the suspect.”
Hunt said they then go to the jail and learned about the booking process.
“We gave the cadets a tour of the inside of the jail,” said Hunt. “It’s eye-opening.”
Following the tour of the jail, the campers went to the courthouse where they all participated in a mock trail with Judge Bruce Hampton presiding.
“Judge Hampton told them he usually wants a unanimous decision but in this case he wanted at least six (of the eight) jurors to rule the same way,” said Hunt. “They came back 5 and 3 so it was a hung jury.
“These kids that formed the jury were really involved. We tried to explain to them how important that service is to society. These kids really took to it. I went into the jury room and they were back and forth. It was neat to see them all so engaged in the process.”
Beard’s role was serving as the patrol deputy No. 2.
“I was the one who arrested the suspect,” said Beard, whose mother works for the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office. “I learned a few things about how to do it. We learned how to do the traffic stop. I thought it was normal, but there is a lot more to it. It was fun but I learned how to do it.”
Thursday morning saw the campers head out to the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office Gun Range in Simsboro where they all participated in an obstacle course.
Following lunch, the campers had a shooting competition using 22 rifles and shotguns in a skeet competition.
“We also did a K-9 demonstration and an SRT demonstration,” said Hunt. “We will take them to Simsboro School and let them work on a simulated barricaded suspect situation.”
Beard said he was glad his mother signed him up for the youth academy.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Beard. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been tough. It takes some toughness to do it, but it’s pretty fun.
“I was planning to be a truck driver one day or a farmer, but I do like this and I appreciate law enforcement and all of the (first responders) and what they do for us.”
