By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

High school youth experience a day in the life of LPS officers

May 11, 2018 | 3:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE – As the sound of a sharp snap and thud of a sock round hitting a bright orange dummy from 50 feet away registered on 22 shocked faces, a chorus of nervous laughs and “oooohhhhhs” could be heard.

The fourth Annual Youth Police Academy Friday afternoon (May 11), gave 22 students from grades 10 through 12 a chance to learn about the powers of arrest, officer safety and use of force and criminal investigations in a classroom component at LPS Headquarters.

During a practical component at LPS’s firing range, students also received firearms training and got to see first hand demonstrations by the K9 unit.

Cst. Kim Pierzchala has been hosting the program for four years.

“We take high school students; kids who are excited or interested in the policing department, or whether it be paramedic…and so they apply to come into the program.”

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Pierzchala says she’s even had a student continue to Lethbridge College’s Criminal Justice Program.

“I am super proud to say my first cadet…is graduating [from] the Criminal Justice Program here in May. Super proud of him. I’m hoping to get there when he gets his diploma.

“I started late, didn’t know what I wanted to do. So just to inspire them. You know that ‘start at a young age, make smart decisions’ and even if you have a bit of a past, now’s your time. When they get to come and experience this and actually see what we do, it really lights a fire under a lot of kids.”

One of those kids was Winston Churchill Grade 12 student Jordan Hicks, who says he’s interested in policing because he wants to help protect the community. He was also interested in what options would be available to him if he went to Lethbridge College.

“So, you know when you go to the college and you go to take the program you know what you’re kind of expecting. And after the two years of being in the criminal justice, you can go out and see all the programs you can do and all of the job opportunities you have.”

“I think the kids are getting a really good sense of what we do,” said Pierzchala.”How it isn’t as easy and how it’s not like you see on TV. So, it’s been wonderful and I’ve had some very positive feedback.”

She hopes that even though she won’t be part of the program next year, that it will continue.

“I’m passing the torch over to another constable, so he’ll do it well next year. And hopefully we’ll just grow bigger and bigger, and I don’t want to ever see this program die.”