ROSCOMMON — More than a dozen kids are now in their second week of the two-week Roscommon County Sheriff’s Office’s Youth Police Academy.
15 cadets, ages 11 to 16, get to experience different jobs on the force. In addition to road patrol, they also learn about the Michigan State Police aviation unit, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, fire, EMS, search and rescue, and more.
14-year-old Allesyn Van Nuck, who’s going into 10th grade, is in her third year with the program.
She said her interest in law enforcement came from her dad’s work as a sergeant on the dive team.
“They teach us all the rules and things in the classroom, and then we get to go outside and experience and pretend we’re the DNR officers. Then today we get to go swimming and go in the water and see all the different Marines and dive stuff. And I think that’s really cool,” said Van Nuck.
Deputy Emilie Pelleran said the academy costs $35 dollars, but for the last three years Guardian Defense, a local firearms education company, has covered all the costs.
“It’s something fun for the kids to do for two weeks. They’re not home playing video games or sleeping ‘til noon. It gets them out. We have kids from lots of different areas, so a lot of these kids don’t know each other, so it’s an opportunity to make new friends,” said Pelleran.
Deputy Pelleran said information about the academy is posted in early April if you’re interested in enrolling your child for next summer.
