LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Lakeland Police Department is trying to recruit for the future.
- Lakeland Police are facing a shortage in recruitment
- They developed a High School Police Academy to inspire young people to work in law enforcement
The Lakeland Police Department are reaching out to teenagers in hopes to inspire more young people to become police officers.
"Twenty years ago there was no shortage of people wanting to be police officers. Today it is very, very difficult to recruit for police officers," said Capt. Rick Taylor, with Lakeland Police Department.
To address the shortage, the department held its first High School Police Academy, catering to 16 to 18 years olds. For one week, these 15 students got an in depth look at every facet of law enforcement.
"With the shoe casting, and the blood tests, and the fingerprinting, it's definitely been my favorite," said Cora Richards.
Richards has always liked forensic science. This program will help her decide if she wants to make a career out of it.
"It gives me kind of a leg up or a foot forward in the right direction and sort of already knowing what's going to happen and what to look forward to and what to expect when I got off to college and major in this subject," said Richards.
Taylor said the academy caters to teens who have expressed an interest in working law enforcement. He's teaching them what they need to know to get the job.
"We're teaching them police ethics, and police morals and values and things like that early so that they don't make any bad decisions or bad choices while they're young that will impact their ability to become police officers when they're adults," said Taylor.
The department hopes the program will pay off.
"We gave them a good overview of everything that the Lakeland Police Department does as a whole in order to spark some interest so that two, three four, five years down the road, we actually hire these kids," continued Taylor.
The department plans to have the academy every summer. It also has a police explorer program for young adults interested in law enforcement.