ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Every summer, the Elizabethtown Police Department offers a free opportunity for teenagers to learn about what the city’s police officers do and who they are. The program is called the Teen Citizens Police Academy. 

School is out for the summer, but Isaiah Willett is still learning. He’s not in summer school, per se, but he is one of 30 teenagers who will learn about the ins and outs of the Elizabethtown Police Department over six weeks.

“I find it a lot of fun, and I just like meeting with the officers, meeting new people, and making new friends. It’s just all-around a great experience for me,” the 16-year-old said.

The program offers 14 to 18-year-olds an opportunity to learn about what it’s like to be an Elizabethtown police officer and is lead by the department’s Public Affairs Officers John Thomas and Chris Denham. 

“It’s a good way to gather information about law enforcement and find out what it’s really about,” Denham told Spectrum News 1.

He said the goal is for them to learn something, and if there is only one take-away, it’s to be open-minded and to gather all of the facts before forming an opinion.

“The people we serve are our most valuable assets, and I say that often, but we do not have enough officers to be on every corner around the clock, and we rely heavily on information sharing from the citizens who we serve, and without them, we would not be nearly as effective as a law-enforcement organization as we are,” Denham said. 

The first session this summer included an introduction tour to learn about what different departments do.

“From interviewing people, to collecting evidence, and then basically just solve the crime, and we will solve it because that’s what we do in here,” Detective Andrea Haire said about what the criminal investigations department does.

However, with six sessions total, the academy digs deeper with presentations and demonstrations. 

“The accident reconstruction, I think that’s really interesting, or the talking about the uses of force, I like both of those. So, you know, what pertains to excessive force or a small amount of force? Just those different kinds of presentations,” Willett said.

The teens learn about what those in uniform do, but they also learn about who they are without the uniform.

Denham said one of the first questions he asked during the first session is how many of the teen participants have a mistrust or distrust toward law enforcement.

“And a few hands went up, a couple were afraid to raise their hand, but I know that is a common theme in 2021,” Denham said. “Unfortunately, as I said, said law enforcement is not the most trusted demographic in the nation, and I blame ourselves for that. Law enforcement doesn’t do a very good job at getting out there and interacting with people and allowing the citizens to see us as people before police.”

However, the program in part aims to change that. This is Willet’s third year participating in the program and he said part of the reason he keeps coming back is because of the personal relationships he’s built with the officers who are part of the program. 

“Some of my friends sometimes come to this, and I like meeting new people here, and it’s just nice to connect with a lot of people in the community and really relate to a lot of different people,” Willett said.

Another reason Willett keeps coming back is because he learns new things every year. For example, during the introductory tour this time around, he got to see the evidence room for the first time.

“I’ve gained a lot of knowledge in the field, which has helped me consider it as a career. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge through how the officers interact with people, through knowing that they are just humans, too. You learn a lot of things in this academy. I think you should come for yourself,” he said.

This is the ninth year the Elizabethtown Police Department has hosted its Teen Citizens Police Academy. However, last year, the program was paused due to the pandemic. The academy runs once every summer, usually in late May or early June. Denham said the department starts promoting the free program via its Facebook page in April or May each year for teens to sign-up.