The NYPD held a career day at its police academy in Queens on Thursday for hundreds of young people involved in its summer internship program, which aims to help the most at-risk youth find meaningful career paths.
The state-of-the-art cadet training facility located at 130-30 28th Avenue in Flushing was transformed into both a playground and educational center for teens looking to take their next steps in life. After spending the summer working elbow-to-elbow with the men and women in blue, cops showed the wide-eyed youngsters department vehicles like helicopters and allowed them to partake in realistic scenarios through the use of virtual reality while also offering them the prospect of taking on jobs in the NYPD and beyond.
“These kids are really from the community,” Assistant Commissioner Alden Foster said. “We get them, but we also learn about many of their hardships at home. We saw a lot of the young people who had a lot of issues at home.”
Commissioner Foster explained that both this event and the summer intern program allowed youth to build lasting relationships with cops while also giving them an opportunity to follow the same path, not just as patrol officers but as 911 operators and Assistant School Safety agents.
“The Assistant School Safety Agent position, which is open for hire right now. That’s young people 18 years of age and up,” Foster said. “We are looking to highlight the great work that they do every single day.”
Partnering with the New York City Police Foundation through their Options Program, a slew of private entities also set up booths throughout the Academy in an effort to help those not looking to enter law enforcement also find a career path.
“The foundation works with a lot of corporations, and they come out and help us in many ways,” Gregg Roberts of the Police Foundation said. “So we really cover all the industries to give these young people a variety of opportunities.”
Roberts also told amNewYork that while interns are working with the NYPD, the Options Program, and exploring career opportunities, it also has an impact on crime by taking teens off the street.
“There is a law enforcement, crime prevention aspect to this because these young people are not only developing relationships with the police, but I guarantee all these young people that were off the streets working with these cops, they’re not getting in trouble,” Roberts said.
The career day not only told youth about the professions but likewise showed them with free haircuts, FDNY training, and team exercises.
