Several local teenagers are learning how to be police officers with the Lindon Police Department’s Youth Citizens Academy. The first-ever youth academy for the department began this month and will continue for five weeks.

“The academy is designed to give an opportunity for high school-aged students to gain hands-on experience about the roles and responsibilities of a police officer. It is set up with a goal to improve and build relationships with the youth of our community while exposing attendees to a potential career in law enforcement,” Chief Mike Brower said.

The cadets completed a short essay on why they would like to do the program as part of their application process. Brower said the responses ranged from wanting to learn more about the criminal justice system and what it’s like to be a police officer to learning forensic science applications in law enforcement and gaining experience.

Detective Gil Sanchez, director of the academy, said that it is a great way to reach out to youth in the community.

“We don’t have a lot of interactions with them,” Sanhez said. “We wanted to be able to reach out to them in a positive way to expose them to police work. If it’s a potential career, we want to expose them to a little bit of our career and what we do day in and day out.”

The five-week academy began on March 1. The nine participating youth cadets, all between the ages of 14 and 17, have learned about building clearing, patrol functions and about traffic stops.

“We did some mock traffic stops and they got to practice being on the other end of a traffic stop. They are the officers,” Sanchez said.

During the remaining weeks of the course, they will have an investigation class, an evidence class, go to a mock crime scene to search for clues and participate in group scenarios of domestic violence and theft. Later, the students will have the opportunity to train with a VirTra simulator. The simulators are used for de-escalation and firearm training.

There will also be a courtroom component to the academy — the cadets will talk to the city attorney and learn about the importance of report writing and court proceedings. In the final week, the cadets will ride along with a police officer.

“I think it has been an eye opener for them as they see what we do here day-in and day-out. Some of them haven’t ever even been pulled over. They get to see from our end, especially on a traffic stop, the things we’re looking for,” Sanchez said. “I think they’re having fun. They’ve been having a blast. They’re really engaged, asking questions and really participating.”

Sanchez said that through participation in the academy, the teens get to see the lighter side of police officers. “We’re just human beings who want to help them out. If they need something, they can call us,” he said.

After the academy is completed, the cadets will have opportunities to continue a partnership with the Lindon Police Department by volunteering to help at events, including Lindon City Days.

“I strive to promote humility, education, training, accountability and leadership in our officers and believe this academy will give our officers and cadets the opportunity to strengthen those characteristics,” Brower said. “This academy will give our officers a unique opportunity to learn from the cadets as well through understanding perceptions and how we can improve in our efforts with community policing.”

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