Junior Police Academy prepares teens for law enforcement

Young people in the Flathead Valley considering careers in law enforcement began their training this past week at the Kalispell Police Department’s Junior Academy.

Fifteen cadets, ranging in age from 12 to 19, took part in the fifth academy, which was held at various locations in and around Kalispell.

They heard presentations from U.S. Border Patrol agents, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks game wardens and the Kalispell City Attorney’s office. The presentations included integrity and ethics, cultural diversity, community policing, nutrition and stress management.

But the academy featured far more than just lectures. The event, the brainchild of KPD veteran officer Jason Parce, featured hands-on training such as a police vehicle driving course, crime scene investigation, the state’s physical agility test, first aid, ground offense tactics and firearms training.

Parce, who is the department’s K-9 officer, brought the academy idea with him from Nevada, where he worked for two years before moving to Kalispell.

“It’s worked very well,” Parce said. “It’s a great way of becoming more part of the community and the kids get a good look into the field.”

Sixteen-year-old Kayla Blincoe, who will be a junior this fall at Glacier High School, wants to be a detective. Her motivation for a career in law enforcement stems from personal experience.

“Three years ago, my cousin was hit by a drunk driver and died,” Blincoe said. “We weren’t real close, but it really affected me. I also like the idea of using my mind to unravel things and getting to the bottom of something.”

Blincoe also has an uncle who previously worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Wednesday, she was feeling a bit under the weather, but stuck it out to finish the physical agility test in 6:27, three seconds under the state-required time.

First-year camp attendee Matt Mason, 17, who will also be a junior this fall at Glacier High, wants to attend the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

His mother, a former California Highway Patrol officer, thought the academy was a good idea for her son, as did Glacier Student Resource Officer Chad Fetveit.

“The academy has been very educational and I have a new perspective of what officers go through,” Mason said. “The test was hard, but doable, which was exactly as Jason described it.”

The youngest cadet was 12-year-old Isaiah Bauer.

Parce said the academy is typically limited to students between the ages of 15 and 19, but Bauer’s older sister signed up before work commitments prevented her from attending, so he came in her place.

Kalispell police officer Ryan Bartholomew ran the agility test, explaining how it worked, keeping track of their times and gently encouraging the students when they struggled.

“It’s amazing how narrow that 6-inch beam starts to look,” he said as a student made his way across it.

The agility test put the cadets through a six-lap course of running across a balance beam, jumping over obstacles and crawling under them before they used a weighted device called a push-pull. After a brief break, each student dragged a dummy which simulated a life-saving situation.

The agility test simulated the physical demands that an officer might experience when chasing a suspect or trying to save soemone that had been injured.

Thursday, instructors from Kalispell Fire Department’s Station 62 taught first aid and trauma management.

Parce, who is a good friend of Greg Harris, owner of Grizzly Security in Kalispell, was talking about the idea when Harris offered to sponsor the academy.

“Greg thought it was a great idea to build better community relations through the department and was happy to get involved,” Parce said.

Travis Danielson of Straight Blast Gym International in Kalispell donated two hours of gym time for instructor Daniel DiStefano to teach various forms of self defense, including jujitsu, boxing and muay tai, a form of Thai boxing.

The week was capped Friday afternoon with a trip to Northwest Shooter, near Columbia Falls.

There, the cadets used a CO2 handgun in a shooting competition in which they fired at targets on a screen. The results were based on the percentage of successful hits and time it took to knock each target down.

The final event was a simulated school shooting scenario that played out on the screen in front of them. When the life-like simulation began, two cadets worked together to determine which people were innocent victims and which were shooters to confront.

The academy is a project made possible through strong community support.

Tim Price, of Flathead Health and Fitness, spoke on fitness and nutrition, while Drew Buckner, of Braveheart Chaplain Ministries, taught ethics and integrity.

Five area restaurants also served free lunches during week to the cadets, including Qdoba Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A, Subway, Jimmy Johns and Costa Vida.

An awards ceremony was held at the conclusion of the activities.

Keston Depner won the Spartacus and Maverick awards for best time on the physical test and best score in the shooting competition, respectively.

Madison Harris won the Nobel award for best academic performance and Mason won the Vollmer award for leadership, voted on by his classmates.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.