Lethbridge high school students get first-hand look at policing careers

Lethbridge students attend 6th annual Youth Police Academy on Tuesday, June 7, 2022.

Sixteen high school students from across the city got a first-hand look at what it's really like to be a police officer on Tuesday at part of the Lethbridge Police Service's sixth annual Youth Police Academy.

“It’s a true insight in to how many different fields there are within policing,” said Const. Chris Andrade with the youth engagement unit.

Participants in the Youth Police Academy toured a police station – including its forensic department – and received demonstrations from the LPS' K9 department and explosive disposal units.

"I think a lot of kids were surprised," Andrade said. "They expect to come into the building and think it's going to be a lot of police officers just dressed in our uniform, but in reality there's lots of other divisions."

"It’s nice for us. We’re always in the schools and their communities, so it’s nice we can bring the kids into our community as well, and share that and show them what it’s like here and just expose them to some pretty cool options that we have."

Tayshaun Small Eyes, a Grade 11 student at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, says he has thought about becoming an officer since he was seven-years-old.

"My grandmother was very community driven, and she had problems with the police on the Blood Tribe enforcement down in Cardston, and she said 'Help change, and help everything,'" said Small Eyes.

Const. Allister Koop took part in a similar program while going to school, and now, 16 years later, he’s a recruiter with the service. 

"It gave me a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what this job actually is and ignited a fire in me to do this job and serve my community," Koop said.

Tuesday marked the first time the LPS has been able to host the academy since COVID-19 hit the province.

"You usually just see it on TV and on shows, and I thought it was really cool, and I wanted to see what it was like to do it in real life and not a movie," said Reece Linz, a Grade 10 student at Victoria Park High School.

Small Eyes says the experience solidified his plan to pursue a career in policing - despite a few dreaded tasks.

“There is a lot of paper work, I didn’t know it was this much, but just a lot of paper work,” he said.