Eighth-graders walk the Thin Blue Line
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bvwv/News/6339/
Instead of learning lessons in front of chalkboards, or at their desks, three junior high school students from Bella Vista recently learned theirs in patrol cars, at the dispatch console and in other offices at the Bella Vista Police Department.
They visited the department to figure out what cops do in the real world.
Spencer Butler, who rode May 7 with Cpl. Jason Runions, said, I want to see what its like when they bust someone up like it is in the real world, not in a movie.
May 6 and 7, Butler and two other eighth grade students from Washington Junior High School spent time learning about careers in law enforcement by riding along with patrol officers and talking to other police officers about their jobs.
This is part of their Career Orientation class, which all eighth graders in the Bentonville School District are required to take.
Trevor Riley, who rode with Officer Terry Dickey, decided to check out a police department because he plans to serve in the U. S. Army, and when hes finished with that service, he wants to go into law enforcement.
Just after he and Dickey started their patrol, the officer received a call to go to an accident where a man had swerved and hit a car. The man got a ticket and a woman had to go the hospital, Riley said.
But one of the most interesting times, he said, was watching Dickey operate the radar gun to see how fast cars were going.
The youngster also learned some radio terms used by the officers and dispatchers to communicate such as 10-4, which means confirmed, and 10-15, which means prisoner in the car.
Along with the radio terms he got to see the evidence room and the gunstorage rooms, where he saw a fully automated AK-47 rifle.
Theyre illegal, he said.
Riley, who was there for both days, went on patrol with two other officers: Lt. Tim Cook and Officer Rodney Deason.
Riley and Butler got to watch them answer a call to a domestic disturbance. Butler said the process was pretty cool. The officers talked to the man and woman and got them to calm down, the students said.
Butler also had the chance to go to court to listen to Runions testify about a person who was charged with driving while intoxicated.
It was different than I expected, he said. He thought he would see attorneys, a judge and a jury. Instead, it was the judge and the lawyers, he said.
He also got to listen to the dispatcher answer emergency phone calls and dispatching rescue personnel to assist.
Another student, Brittany Spychalski, knows exactly what she wants to do with her life.
I want to be a cop. It seems like fun, and I want to protect the community.
She got to watch her aunt, Officer Melissa Bates, use a radar gun and stop a car.
We stopped someone. I was really nervous and shaking.
Bates said, Spychalski Saw how dangerous it can be. The gentleman had a little to drink.
I saw (Bates ) run (license plates ) and give two sobriety tests, Spychalski said. (One ) man was a little upset.
Thats when she realized how important it was for police officers to pay attention to their surroundings, she said.
Spychalski rode along with her aunt for one evening shift and one day shift.
Overall, the students were impressed with Bella Vista law enforcement.
Riley said he was surprised at how much equipment and space the police department has because it looks so small from the outside.
Its been really fun, Spychalski said.
Butler was very pleased with what he learned and said, Im going to tell my cousin to come in.