RPD Youth Police Academy inspires hands-on learning

Dozens of kids worked with police and learned about forensics, fire, the Drug Enforcement Agency and more at the recent Renton Youth Police Academy.

From June 24 to June 27, the Renton Police Department — in partnership with the King County Sheriff’s Office, Newcastle Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration — hosted the Renton Police Youth Academy for 36 kids.

These middle school-aged students got the opportunity to work hands-on with Renton police officers to learn what it’s like to work as a public servant. In addition to working with RPD, there were representatives from the DEA, Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Renton Regional Fire Authority teaching the kids about what they do.

This is an opportunity for the kids to see beyond the badge, said Stephanie Hynes, the Renton Police Department’s communications and community engagement coordinator. She said during the first three days of the academy, the officers wore regular clothes for the youth to see past the layer of just being a police officer. She said it wasn’t until the last day at the academy graduation the officers wore their duty uniforms. In addition to letting the kids get to know the officers past just being officers, Hynes said this is an opportunity to teach kids valuable skills.

“Especially since I have a middle schooler myself, I know the importance of engaging them early. I feel like that age group is the most impressionable, and so if we can start building relationships early on, for public safety and crime prevention, but also for awareness and building positive relationships early, that will be beneficial,” she said. “Plus, we’re starting to plant the seed to think about their career choices. They’re at that age where life choices matter.”

The kids worked in six different squads in groups of six, each led by a police officer, except for one group led by Marcus Pickett, the DEA community outreach specialist. Pickett said during the kids’ graduation that working with the kids all week was “something,” followed by laughs from the crowd full of parents. Pickett said he wanted to ensure everyone was included during the academy.

During the academy graduation, kids shared their favorite parts about the academy, and many said they wanted to become police officers one day or work in another government agency as public servants. Hynes said some of the kids probably thought this academy would just be a sit-down lecture class — but after all, the kids had lots of hands-on activities.

“Gosh, they liked the hands-on, interactive things. They really liked the mock crime scene, the helicopter, the combat challenge, recreational time,” Hynes said. “So this was a blend of not only educational but also fun, and just plain old fun things that we did, as well as nuggets of knowledge.”

Hynes said this year, they were able to add an additional six kids to the academy because the DEA had a squad leader, but over 80 kids applied to the academy. She said the kids had to apply and write a paragraph about why they wanted to attend. Hynes said the review process was intentional, ensuring a mix of kids from different ages, schools, and they wanted an even split between boys and girls.

“It was fantastic. I’m really proud of all these students that came out of their shells and had a great time,” Hynes said.