Academy paints picture of law enforcement work
Program includes drills, police scenarios and physical training
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
After several years of no movement on his idea, Freehold Borough Patrolman Keith Bailey's plan to offer a youth police academy came to life this summer and 25 young people are glad it did.

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Jime Ortiz-Flores, 12 (c), and other young police "recruits" test out prop equipment during the Freehold Borough Youth Police Academy. Part of the daily activities for the participants included drill instruction (photo below).

Preparation for the six-day program began a year ago, according to Freehold Borough police Sgt. Andrew DeMuth.

DeMuth said when Police Chief Mitch Roth took over as head of the department, he (the new chief) remembered Bailey's suggestion about the program.

"The chief asked me if I was still interested in doing the program and I told him I absolutely was," Bailey said.

Roth looked into the idea and eventually selected Bailey as director of the Freehold Borough Youth Police Academy.

Bailey said his brother, Shawn, is a detective with the Holmdel Police Department and was involved in a youth program in his department. He said he wanted local youths to have a chance to explore careers in law enforcement. In the end, 25 young people signed up for the academy and Bailey said many of them are interested in a possible career in law enforcement.

A curriculum was developed and Freehold Borough Patrolman Ronnie Steppat came up with a $25,000 federal grant to help pay for the academy. Steppat and Patrolman Sean Healey prepared the grant application.

Healey said the parents of the young people who enrolled in the academy "should be proud of themselves for allowing their children to participate in the program, and the recruits should be proud of themselves for completing it."

The academy ran from July 25 through Aug. 1. According to De Muth, the goals were "to introduce recruits to the law enforcement world, our officers, and the Freehold Borough Police Department; to challenge and push recruits to achieve mental and physical goals under stressful conditions, giving them a tremendous feeling of accomplishment; and to demonstrate to the recruits and their parents the commitment of the Freehold Borough Police Department to our community."

Portions of the program took place at Freehold Borough police headquarters on Jackson Street.

The participants, who were between the ages of 12 and 16, began their day at 8 a.m. with drills led by Senior Drill Instructor Carl White, a Freehold Township Police Department patrolman and veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.

White is the drill instructor with the Monmouth County Police Academy, Freehold Township.

"Each morning the recruits went through a very realistic drill instruction," DeMuth said. "Officer White far surpassed our expectations. He challenged recruits with realistic drill instructor-recruit confrontation, then balanced it later with genuine interest in the recruits. They received him very well."

Physical training for the recruits, as the young people were referred to, was directed by Patrolman Chris Colaner and Patrolman Duane Stasse, both of whom have extensive experience in personal physical training.

"The greatest lessons in life are often learned from our youth," Colaner said. "The pride, teamwork and commitment to excellence exemplified by these kids has made this academy the experience of a lifetime."

Stasse said the officers "pushed the kids hard."

"They displayed heart, determination and teamwork and we watched as 25 recruits became one," Stasse said.

The recruits' day also included realistic police scenario training segments.

The participants came from Freehold Borough, Howell, Marlboro and Jackson.

Bailey said he believes the week was a complete success. Calling the participants "a great group of kids," he said, "I think the officers who participated in the program got more from the kids than they did from us. I hope the parents were as impressed with the program and with the police department as the kids were."

Roth praised the officers who participated in the program and said they all "took pride in their participation and were diligent with the details and the logistics of the whole process."

The police chief said the officers communicated with the children's parents before, during and after the program.

"This was an opportunity for youngsters in our community to get an overview of what a career in law enforcement is like and to see what their options could be. We hope the youth police academy provided an enjoyable experience and that the kids will have lasting positive memories," Roth said.

DeMuth said the young people impressed the officers every day. He said they understood this was not a day camp.

In the end, the young people agreed that the program was challenging, but fun. Several of them admitted to being a little scared in the beginning when White conducted his military training routine.

"But then he warmed up," said Julianne Scott, 13, of Freehold Borough.

Similar to the relationship that developed between Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Gere in the film "An Officer and a Gentleman," White may have seemed like the "bad guy," but the youngsters saw through that.

Calling White a "good guy," Julianne, who attends the Freehold Intermediate School, said the drill instructor was "trying to get us all to act like one unit.

"If you were late or if someone did something wrong, we all paid," she said.

Julianne and her friend, Aimee Prendergast, signed up for the program together. They found out about it in school.

Aimee, 12, who also attends the Freehold Intermediate School, said the program ended up to be more than she expected. She said the drill instruction was a bit "scary," but said the yelling the participants heard from the drill instructor was not really about yelling, it was "more like getting us to work as one."

Max Stein, 12, also a Freehold Intermediate School student, said he and his friend, Nick Krause, 12, of Freehold Borough, wanted to find out what a career in law enforcement would be like.

"Instilling discipline was a little tough," Nick said, "with the sit-ups, pushups and lots of running, but I liked it."

"We liked feeling like real cops," Max added.

David Glenny, 15, of Marlboro, a student at The Bridge Academy of New Jersey in Lawrenceville, said his favorite part of the week was the mock raid, which was a staged hostage situation.

Calling that segment "pretty cool," David, whose father is a Marlboro police detective, said he wants to be a United States Air Marshal and said he got a good look at the law enforcement life during the academy.

Participants were given imitation police equipment and they had a chance to experience a safe level of police scenarios under the guidance of real officers.

As for Carissa Thompson, 12, of Freehold Borough, well, she got the drill instructor into a bit of a snit when she kept moving when she was supposed to be standing at attention.

"Hey, Mary Poppins," White said.

The consequences were 20 push-ups — just like a real soldier would have to do.

Carissa, who said she wants to be a United States marshal, had the following reaction to her extra exercise.

"Even though there was a lot of yelling and discipline, it really was fun," she said.

Agencies that participated in the program were the U.S. Marine Corps (drill instruction), U.S. Air Marshals, U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Also involved was the New Jersey State Police Recruiting Unit, the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit, the New Jersey State Police Bomb Squad, the New Jersey State Police Task Force and the New Jersey State Police Teams Unit.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, the Monmouth County Serious Collision and Analysis Response Team, the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team and officers from the Freehold Borough Police Department, the Long Branch Police Department and the Freehold Township Police Department were also on hand.