PLAY Academy Kick-Off Event

Members of the City of Berkeley Police Department (BPD), the University of California Police Department (UCPD) and the Berkeley Boosters/Police Activities League (PAL) are pleased to announce that the PLAY Academy will start its fourth academy on Wednesday evening, January 25, 2012.

PLAY connects law enforcement agencies with teenagers from the school district.

Some of the diverse of topics that will be explored by the 15 City of Berkeley teenagers during the 11 week program are:

• Concepts of Criminal Justice & Individual Accountability
• Principles of Weaponless Self-defense & Color Code/Danger Awareness
• Issues surrounding Teen Drinking & Driving Under The Influence (DUI)
• Engage in Dialogue with a BPD and UCPD Career Panel
• Explore criminal justice in action with experts in their fields.

A graduate of the third PLAY Academy said of the experience, “I thought [PLAY] was areally great program and it helped me see all the different jobs within the police department.”

Another graduate added, “My most memorable [session] was the selfdefense class ….because it was hands on and we had to step out of our comfort zone.”

Community members and members of the media are invited to attend the start of the Spring/Academy #4 of PLAY. 

The Police and Life Academy for Youth (PLAY) program got its start in September 2010 with the support of the University of California, Berkeley Chancellor’s Partnership Fund Grant in the amount of $25,000. A second grant awarded by the Berkeley Chancellor’s Partnership Fund in September 2011 of $20,000 kept the program alive.