Kids and cops bond at Sparta Police Youth Academy

BY Meghan Byers
SPARTA – Nearly fifty children attended the three-day Sparta Police Youth Academy this past week at the Sparta PAL building, where they witnessed educational demonstrations and participated in hands-on activities. Although this is the third year that the Sparta Police Department has run the program, it was their first time implementing a more interactive curriculum, which was put together by Sgt. John Lamon and Cpl. Joe Antonello.
"I like working with kids," said Lamon, who has two sons of his own. "I wanted them to be able to learn something, but I wanted to make it fun. I didn't want them to think they were wasting three days of their vacations."
The 47 fifth through eighth graders who attended the academy were all presented with their own Junior Police badges, and learned about various topics of real world police work, such as K-9 tracking and crime scene processing. In addition to demonstrations by the Sparta Police Department, attendees were given the opportunity to view helicopter landings by Atlantic Health and the New Jersey State Police, as well as a demonstration of the Jaws of Life by the Sparta Fire Department.
"The State Police bomb squad came with their robot and let a couple of kids actually control it," Lamon added. "That went over well."
The program was designed this year to be as interactive as possible, as opposed to the lecture-style of previous years – at one point attendees were even able to compete against each other on an obstacle course.
"We also did our own version of an escape room," said Lamon. "We had clues, and they had to work as a team to figure out how to find the secret door to exit the room. They loved that, that was a real big hit."
On the last day of the program, the Junior Police learned about fingerprinting, and then split into teams to solve their own crime using their newfound skills. "We had set up a fake crime scene inside the gym, and made the interior look like the inside of a house," said Lamon. "We gave them a burglary scenario, and they had to process the scene to figure out how the suspect gained entry into the home, what they might have taken, and how they got out."
Besides teaching critical thinking and team-building skills, the Youth Academy also provided a way for the children to get to know the officers who serve their community.
"It's really done just to try to give back to the community and foster that relationship with the community," said Lamon. "We want to let these kids know we're not the bad guys. We're the guys you can go to for help. They get to see that we actually are humans, and we fool around and laugh with them."
Outstanding Cadet trophies were awarded for each grade level at the end of the program on Friday, and all of the participants received Junior Police Investigator medals.
"I think the kids really enjoyed themselves," Lamon said. "A lot of them left saying, 'I can't wait to come back next year.' I think we accomplished what we set out to do."