Lancaster Students Get a Taste of Law Enforcement

From drones to crime scene investigation, working with emergency services and more, the Lancaster High School Junior Police Academy is a summer program that gives students a taste of the criminal justice field.

Open to students in grades 10-12, the program was made possible this year through the collaborative efforts of Lancaster High School and the Lancaster Police Department. The program provided first-hand experiences and insight into the operations of law enforcement agencies. It also afforded participating students an opportunity to consider law enforcement as a potential career choice. The academy ran over the course of two weeks, with the option of continuing on for an additional four weeks to complete a forensics class to earn science credit.

School resource officers Stacy Maute, William Loewer and John Zimmerman, familiar faces to the students, led them through a series of classroom, and scenario-based training sessions to develop and hone their budding detective skills.

“This program is an overall introduction to the career of law enforcement. We instruct on various topics that police officers must be experienced in, focusing on scenario-based training. The students like this type of hands-on training and leave the program with a new appreciation for law enforcement,” Officer Maute said.

Guest speakers instructed students on specialized topics such as tasers, crime scene investigation, mental health calls, emergency vehicle operation and control (EVOC), motor vehicle crash investigation, K-9 units and the use of drones, police bicycles, and sign language for emergency situations.

This year 19 students completed the Junior Police Academy and received a certificate from Lancaster Police Chief William J. Karn, Jr. at a ceremony on July 21.

Students who chose to continue with the forensics class learned about the science behind policing. Mr. Clifford Trapper taught students the science of analyzing evidence, which enabled them to solve a “crime” in class as their final project.

“We are extremely fortunate to have a strong relationship with the Lancaster Police Department and to be able to offer such an incredible opportunity to our students. Our SROs are great presenters who are not only well connected in the law enforcement community, but with other partner organizations that work closely with the LPD. Working in collaboration with the SROs, Mr. Trapper is one of the best science teachers in the business. He has a tremendous rapport with students and challenges them to think outside the box while working on the crime scene investigation project. Our students are lucky to be able to work with such a great group of educators,” said Andrew Krazmien, Director of Secondary Education.

For nearly a decade, the Junior Police Academy has been a joint effort between Lancaster Police, Lancaster Schools, and the Lancaster Youth Bureau. Last year, the program was reworked to include more involvement from the school resource officers and offer the forensics science credit class. Lancaster High School offers seven distinctive and national award-winning academy programs and a multitude of extracurricular activities during the school year.