North Bergen Youngsters Learn What It Takes To Become A Police Officer

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Twenty seventh and eighth graders from North Bergen are participating in this week’s Junior Police Academy.  They are learning what it means to be a police officer, and just how difficult boot camp is.

              The cadets went to the North Bergen Police Firing Range on West Side Avenue on Tuesday, hoping to see a demonstration of actual weapons fire, but when Hudson TV arrived, the skies opened up and it started to rain fairly hard.  So instead of seeing some officers display their pin point accuracy with a pistol, the group was taken for an early lunch.

The cadets did get to tour some pretty impressive rescue vehicles while at the firing range.  There was a S.W.A.T. truck, as well as a water rescue vehicle.  Earlier in the day there was some classroom instruction.

Tomorrow the group will head into Manhattan to tour the 9-11 Memorial site and learn about one of the most tragic days in American history, a day they have only read about.  later in the week there will be a demonstration of the County Sheriff’s Department K-9 unit. as well as two, separate helicopter landings.

According to Police Chief Peter Fasilis, the township’s Junior Police Academy is one of the most intense and educational in the entire state of New Jersey.  One of the most important benefits for the youngsters, is the fact that they are getting to personally know the officers in town.  By developing these relationships, the likelihood is that the cadets will not be afraid to approach a police officer if they see something happening, or if they have a problem.

The Junior Police Academy concludes on Friday.