NJIT's Junior Police Academy: Instruction, Drills, Play and a Trip

Participation in a summer program that brings Newark middle-schoolers to the campus of NJIT to introduce them to public safety officers and learn the finer points of policing has more than tripled in its first three years, leading organizers to consider launching second program for high school students.

Twenty-nine students participated in this year’s Junior Police Academy ­— a week of instruction, drills, exercise, play and a trip from NJIT’s Department of Public Safety. The exercise included jujitsu and the trip was to the American Dream entertainment and retail complex in East Rutherford, where students got a behind-the-scenes look at how the complex’s own police and fire departments work.

“We’re here to really be a part of the community,” explained Department of Public Safety Chief Kevin Kesselman. “And I think if we start at this age, we can truly start building the blocks that are necessary for us to have that great community engagement and interaction.”

Full days

The academy is based at NJIT’s Wellness and Events Center and each day begins with the Pledge of Allegiance, stretching and calisthenics. The rest of the morning is for instruction — covering everything from CPR and fingerprinting to investigative techniques and drone photography — and the afternoon features drills and a dip in the pool.

The interactive activities enable participants to get to know officers like Lieutenant Joshua Sanders and Deputy Chief Michael Villani and understand what public safety is all about. At the same time, the officers aim to bring out the best in the students.

“I had kids walking with their heads down. By Wednesday, their heads were up and they were making friends,” Sanders said.

Finding mentors

“Lieutenant Sanders taught me a lot, honestly, about being a young man, being Black and about trust,” said one participant, Louis Rivers, now a ninth-grader at North Star Academy Washington Park High School. “He described it as a cup of water. If you do a dishonest thing, the water will pour out the trust in the relationship, and it’s hard to get trust back.”

Rivers and Jayla Martin, an eighth-grader at North Star Academy Central Avenue Middle School, attended the academy for the second straight summer. In particular, Martin enjoyed a demonstration of drone photography and the mentorship of the officers. “They all had their own ways or interacting and I liked that,” she said.

Perhaps most telling is that Martin plans to return to the academy next summer — for the third year in a row.