If St. Albert Mounties don't get their man – or their girl for that matter – after hosting last week's first youth police academy, it will be surprising.
Twenty high school students, including six girls, learned what policing is all about, and without doubt, many of them will eventually go on to policing careers.
During spring break, some 30 volunteer RCMP members coached the youths from 6 a.m., when they started their first five-kilometre run, until 10:30 p.m. when they called "lights out." Their mission was to give the teens a taste of what policing is about. The days were so action-packed that, in effect, the youths never stopped running.
"They are great kids who want to learn," said Const. T.J. Matlock as he supervised self-defence training.
"They are like sponges and soaking it up, but right now it's like they are drinking water through a fire hose because there is so much coming at them."
It was Matlock's idea to bring the police academy to St. Albert. Before transferring to St. Albert, he was stationed in Prince George, B.C., where a similar program has been running for 10 years. Called SKY Troop Police Academy, it was the first of its kind in Alberta.
Local RCMP officers spent their off hours teaching the youths how to control and monitor different crime scenarios. The youths visited St. Albert court and Edmonton's K-Division. They had a visit from an RCMP helicopter and from police dog handlers. They learned what it takes to get into a career as a member of the forensics team, the special tactical team, emergency response teams and as undercover police officers.
Each student paid a fee of $350 for the academy with funding also coming from the Mounted Police Foundation and from Neighbourhood Watch. Alberta Education also paid $150 per student because the academy was considered to be a registered for-credit course. Each student received a uniform and training gear.
At one role-playing session the cadets learned about bank fraud. All of a sudden the gym doors burst open and several masked, gun-bearing individuals – police officers in disguise –roared into the 'bank' and staged a mock hold-up.
"They were in shock so when we asked them to provide identifying characteristics, most weren't able to do so. They learned what it's like from a witness' perspective," said Cpl. Laurel Kading.
Team spirit
Kading acted as den mother to the members of SKY Troop, which stands for Strength, Kindness in Youth. She camped with them all week at their quarters at St. Albert Catholic High School. Her goal was to make the academy experience as close as possible to what a six-month stay in RCMP training in Regina would be like. As the students learned discipline, they also gained confidence and pride and got more than they bargained for.
"I came because I've been interested in policing for a long time, but this is more than I expected. I thought we'd just learn about stuff like policing. I didn't think we'd actually be trying it and doing it ourselves," said Max Chabot, 16, a Grade 11 student at école Alexandre Tache.
Drilled-in pride
The hardest exercise was the nightly drill session conducted by Sgt. Maj. Gene Maeda.
Each night Maeda bullied and coerced the teens until they could march and turn smartly on their heels as they saluted. As he marched with them, he tapped his swagger stick against his yellow-striped jodhpurs and clicked his own spurred brown heels sharply. To anyone watching, it was almost as if he were mounted on a horse.
"I wanted them to learn the pride we have as an organization in our history and our traditions as a dismounted cavalry unit," Maeda said.
As the week wound down, the students began to show the effects of all their work. Some limped because of blisters and twisted ankles but all stood straight and tall as they hitched up their gun belts and practiced a series of different policing techniques and scenarios.
The gun belts were empty, except for their radios, but nonetheless it was as if the youths were ready, willing and able.
Red serge send-off
The week culminated with a formal regimental banquet for the students on Thursday evening followed by graduation ceremonies Friday. Many of these youths will finish Grade 12 this year, but few will experience the formality of a ceremony complete with at least a dozen red-serge dressed officers, the local Member of Parliament and representatives from both the provincial and municipal governments.
As the youths marched in accompanied by Sgt. Maj. Maeda's shouted commands, "One, two, three, ONE," there was no more hitching of elastic pants, no more slouched shoulders and absolutely no misplaced steps. SKY Troop marched in as one body, kids no longer.
"This is their favourite thing – drill," Kading told their parents. "And in just one week they have changed from sheep to sheep dogs, from students to police cadets in training. They are leaders in every way. They learned that we are only as strong as our weakest link. We are a troop, a family, a unit. We are one."
For Brianne Brand, 15, who is a student at St. Albert High, it seemed strange to be playing cops and robbers in the rooms where she usually attends class. She gave up a week's holiday, but said the experience was so much fun, she might like to go again next year.
"It's not just arresting the bad guys. It's enforcing and prevention," she said. "Everybody doesn't need arresting and it opened my eyes about how it's also helping victims. Ever since I was younger I wanted to be a police officer because I wanted to help."
