LPD's annual high school police academy gives teens insight into law enforcement operations

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Lakeland Police Department is holding their sixth annual High School Police Academy, which is all about giving young people a real look into how the police department operates.

Colton Wingo, 17, is getting some extra training on how to properly make a felony traffic stop. He's one of 25 students at this summer's High School Police Academy.

"My favorite's probably been the building clearing, where we get to go in and act like we're clearing a building like a SWAT team. I just think that's fun," said Wingo.

The academy started back in 2018. It's a weeklong program where high school juniors up to college freshmen learn all aspects of law enforcement from team building, forensics, public information and social media, and much more.

"They will walk into a case and build it from the ground up and they're going to see everything that goes into it, said Adrian Rodriguez, the academy's Lead Instructor.

At the end of the academy, some are offered positions within the department, though recruitment is not the academy's entire focus.

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"At the end of this week I have two types of kids," said Rodriguez. "One type who wants nothing to do with law enforcement. The other one, you can't stop them from going into law enforcement. That's fine. That's my objective. If I get some recruits from this, great.  It's a byproduct. My goal is to give them a real look into it."

Even though Wingo's plan is to join West Point's military academy, he tried the High School Police Academy with an open mind. He recommends it for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of how the police department works.

"It's basically exactly what they call it, a high school police academy, where it's almost exactly what they would do at a normal police academy," said Wingo. "It's just very condensed because it's only in the week. If you find it interesting or like it, then you kind of already know what to expect."

The students will graduate on Friday, July 26.

As the academy continues to gain a lot of interest, the department may do two academies a year in the future.

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