The Cabot Police Department recently announced the formation of two week-long Junior Police Academy programs for middle school and junior high students in the Cabot School District this summer. A Special Needs Junior Police Academy Day Camp is also in the works, designed to serve school-age children with disabilities in the Cabot area. The programs are free.
Initiated by Sgt. John Dodd, who serves as a school resource officer in the district, the programs aim to build healthy relationships with the youth of the community.
“These programs are a way of giving back to the community, helping to build key character traits in our future leaders and maybe even sparking future interest in law enforcement or public service,” Dodd said. “We want kids to see that police officers are approachable and can have fun, too.”
Two separate one-week academies are scheduled for this summer. The first will take place June 12-16 for fifth- and sixth-grade upcoming middle school students. The second will run July 10-14 for seventh- and eighth-grade upcoming junior high school students. Dodd said he anticipates the week-long academies running from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m each day. The programs are limited to 20 cadets per academy.
“The special-needs day camp will be take place from approximately 8 a.m. to 1 or 2 p.m. on June 24,” Dodd said.
Academy registration will open Saturday. A booth will be set up from 8-9 a.m. in the City Plaza beside the Cabot Police Department to turn in completed applications. After 9 a.m., applications will be accepted inside the Cabot Police Department.
“Once we receive and verify the first 20 applications for each academy, the remaining applicants will be placed on a waiting list. Registration will close when both academies and waiting lists are full, or by April 30,” according to a post on the Cabot Junior Police Academy’s official Facebook page.
A variety of activities are being planned, Dodd said, including a swearing-in ceremony by the Cabot district judge in the courtroom. Cadets will tour the Police Department, jail and communications center.
“We will also have classroom lessons about the history of police officers; different types of officers and their duties; criminal and juvenile laws and ordinances; internet and social-media safety; firearms safety; drugs and alcohol; a day in the life of an emergency and 911 dispatcher; reporting a crime; being a good witness; interviewing and report writing; vehicle collisions; photography; and more,” Dodd said.
Practical hands-on activities will include undergoing daily physical training, using drunk goggles, watching a firearms demonstration by the Special Operations Response Team, doing crime-scene work, including developing and lifting fingerprints, participating in a police photography exercise, searching for evidence, learning defensive tactics such as handcuffing and viewing a simulated vehicle accident scene response by the Cabot Police Department, the Cabot Fire Department and ambulances.
“Each day, we will have some sort of game and team-building exercise, or possibly a volunteer opportunity,” Dodd said.
At the end of the week, the cadets will divide into groups and use the skills they have learned throughout the week to respond to a mock crime scene. All cadets will be provided a free T-shirt, lunch and snacks.
The Special Needs Junior Day Camp will have a separate registration, to be announced on the Cabot Junior Police Academy official Facebook page. The day camp will serve school-age children with disabilities, approximately ages 6 through 21, in the Cabot area.
“The day camp will focus on their abilities and give them an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a police cadet,” Dodd said. “All cadets will be provided a Junior Police Academy T-shirt, the same shirt cadets get in the week-long academy, too. We felt that was important.
“My wife and I are parents of a beautiful, hardworking 10-year-old girl named Lauren who has autism. We are always looking for different activities for her to be involved in to help with development, academics and social skills. Our police department strives to serve our whole community, which definitely includes our friends with disabilities.”
Dodd said planned activities for the special-needs day camp include a Nerf Gun alley, fingerprinting, an obstacle course, a police selfie station, defensive-tactics training and a police-car tour.
“We also plan to have an area where cadets can cool off if the sensory overload becomes too much or they just need a break,” he said. “We will have a coloring area or other activities. Activities will be both inside and outside.
“The Cabot School District has given us the use of their high school cafeteria and adjacent area to put on the special-needs day camp. First Security Bank is giving us use of its big grill and purchasing food for lunch. Our police chaplain, Tina Frost, is helping coordinate drinks and snacks, too.”
Dodd said part of his duty as a police officer and school resource officer is to help build bridges between the Cabot Police Department and the youth of the community.
“I had worked on the idea for several months, then worked with my lieutenant and captain to pitch the idea,” Dodd said. “The leadership of the the Police Department immediately gave the academies their support and helped set up a steering committee to guide the creation of the academies. I am very thankful for their support and leadership, as we are building the program from the ground up.
“Besides being a proactive outreach program, we will strive to develop key character traits in the students: teamwork, self-motivation, work ethic, pride, analytical thinking, purpose, self-discipline, respect and leadership.”
Officers and dispatchers from every level of the department will be involved in the program, and it was designed to have as much involvement with different areas of the Cabot Police Department as possible.
“Besides our community outreach, this is a great opportunity for our own officers and dispatchers to get a chance to communicate and interact with kids in our community in a different way,” Dodd said.
On the Friday of each academy, a graduation ceremony will be held for families to attend. Cadets will be awarded a certificate and celebrate with light refreshments.
“Financially, we have been supported by an anonymous donor who donated all we needed to put on the Special Needs Junior Police Academy Day Camp,” Dodd said. “Cabot citizen Tina Price and the Walmart Neighborhood Market donated all the money we needed for both week-long academies.
“We are very excited about this new endeavor and are looking forward to graduating our first class in June.”
For more information about the Cabot Junior Police Academy or the Special Needs Junior Police Academy Day Camp, contact Dodd at jdoddii@cabotar.gov or visit Facebook.com/CabotJPA.