Junior Police Academy Shows Kids the Jobs of New Brunswick Officers

The New Brunswick Police Department has graduated its first class of Junior Police Academy recruits, after four days of working closely with city officers to see what it takes to be an officer in New Brunswick.

Held from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 13 through Aug. 16 the Junior Police Academy, aided by the police department's , covered topics like the marine patrol, the K-9 Unit, S.W.A.T., traffic control, evidence collection, and a tour of police headquarters.

The police department started the free program this year to give local kids ages 8-12 a close-up look into the different departments in the city police force, according to the city.

On Aug. 15, the 19 children in the program were taken down to New Brunswick Landing to see the 26 ft. SeaArk Marine vessel operated by the police department, used for patrolling the Raritan River and for water rescues and recovery.

Det. John Drury and Det. Harry Hudson brought the students onto the boat in groups to show them the boat's equipment and controls, and explain what it is used for.

The boat has twin outboard engines, a tank that holds 150 gallons of fuel and can operate in as little as 22 inches of water, Drury said.

Drury and Hudson touched on water safety as well, telling the kids to be cautious around all bodies of water, stay out of unfamiliar waters, and to talk to their parents about learning to swim if they did not know how.

On the final day of the academy, the kids met the department's bomb-sniffing K-9 officers: a two-year old male German Shepard named Odin and a 10-year-old female black Labrador Retriever named Jamison, who is nearing retirement.

Both dogs are "single-purpose scent dogs," meaning they are trained to detect only explosives, and are handled by Drury.

The academy concluded with the awarding of certificates proclaiming each child an academy graduate, and a pizza party.

Sgt. Scott Gould said the purpose of the academy was to give the children a look at what it takes to become a police officer, and all that officers actually do.

Gould told the kids that he hoped the academy sparked an interest in law enforcement, and helped them with skills of time management and perseverance as they went back to school.