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Kids at camp learn about cops
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Kids, being kids, always want to know more about the details, and the same is true for members of the Youth Police Academy at the EB Family Life Center at Elizabeth Baptist Church.
Members on Monday wanted to know what it was like to be handcuffed and also to ride in police cars. Officer Jose Morales Jr. of the Community Police Unit was happy to oblige, spending an hour with the students explaining how police work and urging students to come to a police officer when they need help.
Morales told the students he loves his job, following in the footsteps of his father, Jose Morales Sr., who retired in 2015 after 35 years on the department.
“I love helping people,” Morales said.
The academy is part of the King’s Camp at the East Side church’s center, and it is funded through the city’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence program. It is run by former city police officer Detective Sgt. Delphine Baldwin-Casey, who also served more than 30 years on the force.
Baldwin-Casey tells the students about how to interact with police and how police do their jobs. They also write essays on what they think of the police.
Baldwin-Casey said in several of the essays, some of the black and white students said they think white police officers are racists. She said they think that because of what they see on television and what their parents tell them.
To combat that, Baldwin-Casey, who is black, wants them to see and hear from officers who are minorities at first to get them used to police officers, then bring in officers who are white to talk to the children.
For his part, Morales told the students not to trust everything they see on television. He asked if any of the students wanted to be police officers when they grow up, or lawyers or judges. When several said they did, he urged them to do well in school and listen to their parents.
Nadiya Anderson, 11, said she learned what happens if she gets in trouble, and she said she does not like any of those things.
“I don’t want to be a juvenile delinquent,” Nadiya said. “I want to do something else with my life besides go to jail. I learned police aren’t always bad people.”
Kevin Boudrey, 8, said he learned not to talk to strangers. He also said he learned police are ready to arrest people if they do wrong.
“They take people to JJC [juvenile justice center] for justice,” Kevin said.
As part of the program, Morales handcuffed several students to answer their questions on what it is like to be handcuffed and how handcuffs work. He also took each student for a ride in a cruiser with the lights and siren on.