SIDNEY — Class 003 of the Sidney Police Teen Law Enforcement Workshop recently added 11 members to its growing list of alumni. Fifty teens have graduated since the program’s debut in 2017.
The “mini” teen police academy was created to educate local high school students about their local police department and the profession of policing. According to a press release from the Sidney Police department, a goal is also to enhance communication between Shelby County youth and the police who serve them.
Students who participated in the workshop were given tours of the jail and court systems and learned about:
• The police department’s hiring process;
• Patrol, detective, and community resource unit operations;
• Real life versus television policing;
• The use of force and decision making while using the use of force simulator;
• Police K9, SWAT, and drug unit operations;
• Cyber crime/technology;
• Mock crime investigation;
• Health, nutrition, and first aid applications.
“It is very rewarding to me and the many other officers who participated in the workshop. Our goal was to educate the students about our profession and hopefully we were able to give them a different perspective on things. I am confident that we achieved that this week with this group,” program director Police Sgt. Jeremy Lorenzo said in the release. “I am hoping to see some of them in a few years going through our hiring process, or working in a closely related field.”
