FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — From watching a K-9 demonstration to seeing what it’s like to be inside Fayetteville Police’s emergency response team vehicle, the kids in the Citizens’ Youth Police Academy are learning what it’s like to be a police officer.
“We are super excited to open them up to the world of what policing is... and you know, hope that they take what they learn, embrace it, enjoy it and want to continue it in the future,” said Corporal Malik Freeman.
This year was the department’s largest youth academy with 100 kids in grades five through 12 taking part in three sessions throughout the summer.
Mayar Alhwaidi is going into 9th grade at Haas Hall Academy. This is her second summer doing the academy. She loved learning about how crimes are investigated.
“I’ve just been really interested in criminal justice and I came back this year because it’s really fun and I learned a lot. It’s a lot of different stuff that you don’t experience on a daily basis,” she said.
And Shane Bartlett is going into 10th grade at Kingston High School. This was his first year in the academy.
“I see a lot of opportunity in this program for later on in my career and life because I’d like to be a cop when I grow up, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn, learn young,” he said.
Corporal Freeman says they also teamed up with Central EMS and the Fayetteville Fire Department to show the kids what they do. All the kids also get CPR certified. He says getting to be part of the academy is a rewarding experience.
“It’s awesome to see their excitement, it’s awesome to hear from parents about how exhausted the students are at the end of the day when they get them back. We see a lot of comments on Facebook when we post pictures of what they are doing throughout the week and tell us how excited their students are,” said Freeman.
The Fayetteville Police Department says they are thankful to all their sponsors for helping with their academies. Any child in 5th through 12th grade will be able to sign up for the academy next summer, free of charge.
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