MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Right now, police departments across the country are struggling to find new officers.
However, a program in Menasha is working on bringing in new recruits while they’re still in their teens.
High schooler Cecilia Krause spoke to WLUK. She’s part of the Menasha PD’s Explorers Program
“There’s no other organization that I can think of that really gets you out there and helps you connect to the community more than this”
The program is for people ages 14 to 21 to learn all about what officers do on the job.
“Traffic stops, building clearing, arrest and defense tactics. Basically everything that we do on the streets we teach the kids to do,” explained Officer Adam Miller.
Thursday night they had an open house for possible new recruits.
Miller heads up the program. He went through it himself as a teen.
“Now I work for the City of Menasha as a patrolman. So it’s a great learning tool. It helps you learn whether or not you even wanna be in the career”
According to Miller this program is a really great way for young people to find out about the pros and cons of the career. Krause calls it an eye-opener.
“I don’t think I was quite prepared for the level of energy it takes to carry this out. I mean you really have to be passionate about it”
Miller says it’s a struggle these days to find good people with that passion. He said across the country recruitment is tough for departments right now as tension is high between officers and communities.
“We hope to, through our explorer program, just teach kids there’s a lot of great cops out there and it’s a great career to get into”
Krause says people her age are interested. It’s just a matter of harnessing that interest through programs like explorers.
The Menasha program is part of a national organization called “Exploring.” It has several local opportunities for many different career fields, not just policing.
