Robbinsdale partners with Crystal and New Hope for Tri-City Junior Police Academy

This summer, Robbinsdale police will partner with officers from neighboring cities Crystal and New Hope to offer the first Tri-City Junior Police Academy. The three suburbs already cooperate on many law enforcement programs, including a Citizens Police Academy.

“When it comes to policing, one of the things we do is engage in the community – a lot of our work is youth-focused,” said Dr. Nneka Onuma, Crystal’s community and police partnership liaison. “The information they get at that age helps prepare them for what they’ll have to do in the future. So it’s possible that a kid who goes to the junior police academy could potentially say, ‘Hey, that’s a career I could see myself doing.'”

The Junior Police Academy will be held on Thursday and Friday, June 13 and 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Crystal Community Center and Crystal City Hall. It is for children in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. There will be demonstrations and presentations by various police officers from different agencies.

“They’ll learn what it takes to be a SWAT officer and how that process works. They’ll be working with a sniffer dog,” Onuma said. “So there are different things that not only allow the officers that participate in this to connect with the youth in the communities that they serve, but it also allows the youth to get involved and get to know not only the profession but the actual officers that participate in this program.”

Robbinsdale is joining forces with the other two cities for the first time. Community Engagement Officer Nichole Saba said this is a great way for young people to learn more about not only the work of police officers, but also the officers themselves.

“We all know that when police are called to a crime scene or to someone’s home, the outcome is not always positive,” Saba said. “This is another way to foster those partnerships and show youth that this is the job of the police.”

Saba said it costs $20 to participate, but scholarships are available.

Crystal | New Hope | Robbinsdale

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