By Philip Sean Curran
FREEHOLD – Inside a darkened room normally used for law enforcement training, Tracey Tift set up a driving simulator that gave a bunch of teenagers a sense of what it’s like to be on the road behind the wheel of a police car.
“Who’s first?” he asked. A young woman raised her hand and got into the seat.
On the grounds of Monmouth County’s Situational Training and Response Simulator facility in Freehold, more than 100 teenagers from the county got a first-hand taste of what it’s like to be in law enforcement – from flying drones to getting up close and personal with a bloodhound that’s been used to hunt down murderers.
July 8 to 12 marked Sheriff’s Youth Week, a program the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office started in 1992 with 16 students. The program is more than just a week of summer camp for children. Rather, it is aimed at young men and women with an interest in a career in law enforcement.
“We want them to understand it’s a tough job, it’s a great job,” said executive undersheriff Ted Freeman, the director of youth week. “It’s a rewarding experience.”
As he spoke, a group of teens marched past, all wearing matching T-shirts, baseball caps and black pants on a hot morning. “If you need water, fill up your water bottle now,” an instructor called out to them.
Their days began at 7:45 a.m. and ended at 4 p.m. – days filled with work and sweat.
“We have drill instruction every morning, every afternoon we have an hour of (physical training),” Freeman said. “It’s just like the academy.”
And there wasn’t a smartphone in sight.
“They are not allowed to have their cellphones,” said John Cuccia, the assistant director of youth week and a supervisor at the sheriff’s 911 center. “It’s funny, because I told them that on the first day. We took their cellphones and told them to put them in the bags that we gave them. And every few hours, I would sit there and go, ‘My God, you guys have made it four hours without a cellphone. Are you alive?’ ”
At the facility in Freehold, Sheriff’s Officer Kurt Kroeper, a member of the K-9 unit, was holding forth with Skye, a 5 1⁄2-year-old bloodhound. The students stood in front listening as he talked about the dog and some of the work she has done around the state.
“Her longest successful track is 5.9 miles, eight hours after the guy crashed his car and fled on foot,” Kroeper said.
While many students were returning participants in the program, others, like Dori Valentine, were there for the first time.
“It definitely opens up my eyes and I totally get a new perspective on what people in police specifically really do out in the real world,” said Valentine, 16.
As a rising junior at Red Bank Regional High School, she aspires to attend college at either the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or the Coast Guard Academy. She said she would like to work for the FBI one day.
“It’s really, really great to see what they are doing, so I know what I’m going to be doing in the future,” she said.
Mya Ostermiller was a first-time attendee of youth week as well. At 18, she graduated this year from Middletown South High School and, bound for Kutztown University in Pennsylvania later this summer, she said she wants to do something in law enforcement as a career.
“This is a week of opportunity for our young adults to come in (and) have an experience about law and public safety through our Monmouth County Police Academy,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said. “They take a week out of their summer. They could be on the beach, they could be doing some recreation, doing something else. But they’re here dedicated to learning about law enforcement and public safety.”
Through the week the teens also had a chance to hear from guest speakers from various law enforcement agencies. One included Doug Collier, a retired agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration who is now a Monmouth University professor. He spoke about vaping, the practice of using electronic cigarettes.
“We want them aware that, if you’re vaping or if you’re thinking about it, these are the health hazards and health hazards affect a police officer’s ability to perform,” Freeman said.
Youth Week has a high return rate, with about 45 percent of students having previously attended. Through the years, some alumni of the program have gone into law enforcement, including one who decided to forgo becoming a nun and instead became a police officer in Alexandria, Virginia, Freeman said.
“Most people go to work and they make a living,” said Freeman, who got into law enforcement in 1966 in Spring Lake. “We make a difference in law enforcement. Every day, any police officer, any corrections officer, goes to work (and) they have an opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. And that is worth more than the pay and it’s worth more than the benefits.”
This article was first published in the July 18 – 24, 2019 print edition of The Two River Times.
