A Youth Citizen Police Academy summer camp run by the Jackson, Miss., Police Department just completed its third year. Participation numbers have grown steadily for the program, and this year saw a new record number of young people participating.
The idea originated with a former captain and is now spearheaded by Captain Christian Vance, director of training for the department. Vance is in charge of leading other community initiatives as well, including other youth programs and community wellness fairs.
The department has a clergy police academy in place, where members of the clergy are given the opportunity to meet people in the department and see how the department is run. There is a citizen police academy that gives the same opportunity to citizens. However, at one point, local law enforcement leadership realized that the department was missing the youth component…