Why Teach Kids About Law Enforcement

Junior Police Academy inspires young people to be outstanding citizens by introducing them to the vital role law enforcement plays in America.

An outgrowth of community policing, JPA transforms the traditional role of the police officer into

one of mentor and friend, while encouraging our young citizens to be partners, not adversaries, in building safer schools and communities.

"There is a famous experiment that had a great influence on how and why I wrote the program. In the experiment a person is put in a small room with a desk and pencil and instructed to fill out a form. The door to the room is left slightly open. As the subject dutifully fills out the form a man walks by the doorway carrying a ladder. Moments later the subject hears a loud crash from down the hall followed by groaning cries of pain.

"Obviously - the man has fallen from the ladder and is in distress.

"Naturally the subject filling out the form immediately jumps up and runs down the hall to offer assistance..

"Naturally?

"Actually less than 30% of the subjects tested lent assistance. Thirty percent! 100% looked up. Some even put down their pencil. But most sat there, listening to the cries and wondering who would help this man.

"I don't know if there is a name for this affection, but I do know that police officers are in spirit and action its very antithesis. Time spent with police officers cultivates in young people something essential to both humanity and democracy - an enthusiasm for justice."

Phillip LeConte
Executive Director

The program taps into something as old as the law enforcement profession itself; one that goes all the way back to the first time a father put on a police uniform and stood before his children.

Frame that image in your mind and glimpse the engine that powers JPA:

for youth, someone to champion justice;

for the police officer, someone worth fighting for.

Together young people and police officers generate a uniquely American brand of idealism that is essential to both liberty and democracy - an enthusiasm for justice!

The essential quality of what happens next cannot be found in this or any other manual.

It defies description.

I do know it has the power to transcend the distance that once defined cops and kids with a brand of idealism that's uniquely American and, at least to my way of thinking, essential to both liberty and democracy - an enthusiasm for justice!

Phillip LeConte
Co-Founder

Special thanks go to Chief Tom Clemons for his inspiration and support; and Chief Pat Fuller (former Chief of the AISD Police Department, Austin, Texas) for not only shepherded this program, but allowing us to have some fun in the process.

Big thanks to my friends John Schneiter, Dennis Haley and Curt Schwake.

Patricia Lyle, Curriculum Director, Bay City ISD, Texas
Officer Rick Jennings, Pequannock Community Policing
Assistant Chief Terry Zeigler of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department
Dr. Cynthia Lane, Superintendent of the Kansas City Public Schools
Officer Steve Williams of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department
Chief Rick Armstrong of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department
Lisa Garcia, Director of Student Services, Kansas City Public Schools

Finally, we acknowledge the tremendous contributions of our Advisory Council:

Sgt Robert Goetz, Everett Police Department

Officer Suzanne D'Ambrose: Monmouth County Voc-Tech School, Freehold, New Jersey

Officer Mitchell Garcia: Houston Police Department, Texas

Officer James Adams: Hanford Police Department, California

Officer John Clapp: White Settlement Police Department, Texas

Officer James Taylor: Goshen Township Police Department, Ohio

Officer Mark Dillon: Hanford Police Department, California

Captain Tom Long: Herkimer Police Department, New York

Deputy Cory Hughston: Crime Prevention Specialist, Victoria County Sheriff's Office, Texas

And the late Edward J. Cain, Jr., Associate Professor, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, who, like the Northern Star, provided guidance - helped us take an idea and turn it into something that shines.

You have all enriched this program. To each of you, my heartfelt thanks.

Phil LeConte
Executive Director