The Rice University Police Department welcomed local high school students to campus this month to experience what it’s like to work in law enforcement during the third annual Law Enforcement Youth Academy (LEYA) program June 10-14.
The weeklong academy, which was open to youth between the ages of 13-17, featured special police topic classes, field trips, guest speakers and numerous unique activities to highlight the duties of police officers and various members of law enforcement. From fingerprinting to meeting police dogs to even sitting in a Houston Police Department helicopter, attending students enjoyed an action-packed week that they say they’ll never forget.
“It was definitely an eye-opening experience,” said Morgan Charbella, a ninth grader at Debakey High School. “We got to learn a lot about law enforcement careers, and not only their history but what their day-to-day operations are like. They had a lot of engaging activities, which made it a really fun experience.”
Students also attended classes on the history of policing, crime prevention, the criminal justice system, traffic law, police technology and many other topics.
“The most important part about this program is building a bond and a relationship between our youth and law enforcement,” said Clemente Rodriguez, RUPD chief of police. “We always enjoy interacting with our youth, and we’re glad that we bring other agencies to be a part of this program.”
RUPD officer Jorden Davis, who served as an LEYA student mentor, said the program provided students with invaluable experience, showing them the different aspects of policing and different career avenues available.
“Watching these kids’ minds open up to policing is incredible,” said Davis, who has been with RUPD for a little over seven months. “These are students who want to be doctors. They have their whole life planned out already, which is mind-boggling in itself. Watching them go, ‘Hey, I wanted to be a doctor, but now I want to go into policing,’ or ‘I want a degree in criminal justice now’ — it’s very heartwarming. And it’s amazing to see that one week with children of this age can be a huge determination in their journeys of life.”
In addition to the instruction and lessons provided at LEYA, the kids were able to engage in some hands-on activities, including an impaired driving test.
Accompanied by a police officer, the students drove around a short course in a golf cart once, then once more while wearing goggles known as “fatal vision goggles.” These provide an impairment that simulates being intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
Davis said it’s key for law enforcement to connect with young people early in their lives to establish a level of trust.
“Sometimes people see the gun and the badge and they forget that we are humans — that we go to school, we live life and we have families that we want to go home to,” she said. “So it’s really important at a young age to be able to build that very strong connection where they know that they can turn to the police when there’s an emergency but also teach them more about how law enforcement works. So I think this is just huge.”
The experience came to a conclusion June 14 with a graduation ceremony event at the Anderson-Clarke Center, where the students were handed medals and certificates.
To learn more about LEYA, visit rupd.rice.edu/LEYA.
