Warwick Junior Police Academy holds its second 2024 graduation ceremony
Seventeen cadets graduated from the second 2024 Town of Warwick Police Department Junior Police Academy in the theater at Mountain Lake Park on August 16, 2024. The academy is a collaborative effort between the police department and the Warwick Valley Central School District.
The cadets were celebrated for their commitment to the academy, which emphasizes public service and leadership. The program, which is open to students between the ages of 10 and 15 from the Warwick, Greenwood Lake and Florida school districts, teaches the cadets many of the WVCSD’s Portrait of a Graduate qualities, including leadership, collaborative and communication skills, as well as citizenship and problem-solving.
“Over the last two weeks our SROs have packed in a lot of activities, education, exercise and some fun for the cadets as well ,” said Town of Warwick Police Chief John Rader during the ceremony. “It’s amazing what they fit into the 10 days and it’s amazing to watch the transformation from day one, when everyone was coming in kind of nervous and maybe not even knowing each other, to today when they were performing as one team. And that’s law enforcement right there. We’re a team.”
Town of Warwick Supervisor Jesse Dwyer, whose son Joseph was in the class, Warwick Valley Central School District Superintendent Dr. David Leach and Greenwood Lake Union Free School District Superintendent Sarah Hadden also spoke during the graduation ceremony.
The first session of the 2024 academy graduated its class of cadets on July 26. The 10-day program, which was headquartered at Warwick Valley High School, includes both classroom learning and hands-on, real world experiences. Activities and lectures are led by members of the police department and New York State Troopers. Presentations, workshops and field trips are led by local professionals.
The cadets were involved in activities such as processing a playground “crime scene” using investigation techniques, touring the Orange County Emergency Services Center and visiting TreEscape Aerial Adventure in Vernon, N.J. The children also learned defensive tactics; handcuffing techniques; CPR, bicycle and fire safety; and taekwondo, among other things.
Class president Anastasia Barabadze thanked Chief Rader and all the officers involved for the memories she has made and the lessons she has learned at the academy.
“They have all helped us reach our limits that we didn’t know we could reach” Barabadze said. “Even if it was making us do push-ups when anyone messed up, it only made us stronger.”
View a slideshow of photographs from the ceremony below:
