Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Saratoga High School junior Dan Myers, 17, gets ready to fire a .357 Magnum revolver, with instruction from assistant rangemaster Cathy Watson.

Arresting Development

Deputy sheriffs teach high-school students the tricks of their trade

By Sarah Lombardo

The rain dripped off the noses and arms of the cadets as they stood facing the firing range. As one cadet stepped forward, the wind rustled her rain jacket, the sound mingling with the murmur of her compatriots' voices. She extended her arms and pointed a .357 Magnum revolver toward the target.

The rangemaster demonstrated the proper grip on the gun and took a step back, looking over the cadet's shoulder as she took aim. She fired, silencing the chatter when the bullet leaving the barrel sliced through the air.

But only for a second.

"Whoa, cool!"

"Oh my God!"

Not the responses one might expect from a group of Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department cadets, but then again, these weren't average cadets. Each cadet in training that night is a high school student.

The 15 students, from Saratoga and Cupertino high schools, are participants in the Teenage Community Police Academy, conducted by the Sheriff's Department. Over an 11-week period, the students will attend classes and receive training similar to that of real Sheriff's Department cadets, including how to make a traffic stop and weapons safety. Student cadets also must accompany a patrol officer on a full 10-hour shift.

The voluntary program is designed to increase teenagers' understanding of the inner workings of the Sheriff's Department. Students attend lectures on sexual assault, domestic violence, criminal and juvenile law, search and seizure, use of force, crime scene investigations and gangs, and are taken on tours of the main sheriff's department and County Communications.

Students are even given a chance to fire a wide range of weapons at the Sheriff's Department Firing Range, under the close scrutiny of Rangemaster Brian Marvin.

"We really emphasize that [the gun] is not a toy," Marvin said. "It's basically designed to do one thing, and that's destroy."

Marvin, who created his own weapons safety and awareness program for use in schools about five years ago, said he has been shocked by the comfort level teenagers have with guns and with violence.

"It's been absolutely scary," he said.

Marvin said he was surprised at some of the teenagers' reactions when viewing shootings on a training video.

"Some of them laughed and joked during the shooting. We take an officer being killed very seriously," he said. "You try not to take it personally."

Deputy Ted Atlas, school resource officer at the Sheriff's Department's Westside Substation in Saratoga, said "[the academy] gives them a better understanding of law enforcement and how it works."

Atlas and Deputy Janet Shannon, school resource officer in Cupertino, run the program, enlisting the help of many other sheriff's deputies for lectures and practical exercises.

Shannon said the academy often helps students who are considering a career in law enforcement get a better idea of what they might be getting into and what will be required of them. Shannon said some teenagers think that if they plan to be cops, they don't need to do well in English or math, and that students' grades are often the victims of that misconception.

"Some of the kids have brought it to our attention that they want to go into law enforcement but perhaps weren't doing very well in school, and this is to show them that there is a lot more to it," Shannon said. "It's not just the guns and the shooting ... so that maybe they're motivated to feel that there is a reason to do well [in school]."

But, Atlas said, the academy does not set out to recruit the next generation's cops.

"On their applications, some are interested in law-enforcement careers and some are not," he said. "We're not trying to make them into cops."

Atlas said the most important goal of the academy is to increase understanding and foster better relationships between the youth of Saratoga and Cupertino and law enforcement.

According to Atlas, the teen academy is an offshoot of the Citizen's Academy, also conducted by the Sheriff's Department. But where the Citizen's Academy strives to break down the barriers between the public and law enforcement, the teen academy tries to keep those barriers from going up in the first place.

"The whole thing is for the public to understand more of what law enforcement is," Atlas said, "because sometimes the media doesn't present really a very clear picture of everything."

Shannon said deputies can show teenagers what cops are dealing with when they make a stop. "These are our concerns that we have for our safety and for everyone else's safety," she said. "And we can say, 'See why we have to do things this way? There's a reason for it. It's not just because we didn't like you or we pick on teenagers.' We just want to show them that if we don't do it this way, if we don't take these precautions, we face consequences."

According to Shannon and Atlas, strained relations between teenagers and law-enforcement officials created their jobs in the first place.

Atlas became Saratoga's first school resource officer four years ago to combat problems the sheriff's department was experiencing with local teenagers. Saratoga's program worked so well, Shannon modeled one after it for Cupertino when she became that city's first school resource officer almost two years ago.

Both officers and parents said they think the program and the academy are working. "Saratoga was having problems, and I think that changed completely," Shannon said.

Shannon said that because she and Atlas have become recognized and known around the schools, they are able to initiate frank discussions with students about issues ranging from the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles to stereotyping and openness.

"It's funny," Shannon said. "When you start talking about it, ...they realize everyone should be treated on an individual basis just like it should be done. I think it opens up the relationship a little bit. They get to know you as a person."

"You're never going to have a 100 percent 'warm-fuzzy' feeling between teenagers and the police," Atlas added. "There's always going to be a natural conflict there, and we accept that. What we're trying to do is let the kids understand that we have a job to do. We have a function to do, and we're going to do it. On the other hand, we try to get our officers to understand that kids are kids. We were all kids once. We didn't have the most perfect teenager years, so it kind of balances out. If a kid does something wrong, deal with it. But you don't have to be heavy-handed about it."

Steve and Annette Ladowitz's daughter, Michelle, 17, is a student participating in the academy, and they say they've noticed the change in local teens' attitudes toward law enforcement.

"When we went to the first session [of the academy] with Michelle, I just felt a much more open feeling with the police," Steve said, "especially with teenagers who may or may not have good feelings about the police."

"I see definite attitudes that are changing," Annette said. "They're building a relationship, a rapport. There's beginning to be a relationship there."

Michelle, a Saratoga High School student, said she applied for the academy because she is thinking of a career in law enforcement. But she said that even if she decides not to be a cop, she is learning things she can use for the rest of her life.

"A lot of people from school and stuff kind of think that police officers have a bad connotation, and I wanted to find out what it was really like," she said. "I want to learn about the laws and how the police see us as people. You can take all that stuff and figure out why the cops do what they do."

Greg Graham, a 17-year-old Saratoga High School student, said he thought the academy could help change students' opinions about law. His mother, Janet Graham, said she has noticed an undercurrent of mistrust or misunderstanding between law enforcement and teens in Saratoga, but that the academy could help change that.

"I think with this kind of thing, [teenagers] will know what to expect around officers and know how to act," she said. "They will also be able to tell when an officer is out of line."

Saratoga High School student Dan Myers, 17, said he has developed a new perspective about officers. "Most teenagers think that [officers] will harass them, but they are actual people, and they have families and stuff."

Myers said he thought the academy was a great way to break down walls of mistrust and stereotypes. "It changed my point of view," he said. "If they can get bigger classes and get more people involved, I think it would help a lot."

Marvin said it's that kind of attitude that makes working on the academy worthwhile.

"I think the nice thing about it is that the more deputies [students] come in contact with, the more a bond is built there," Marvin said. "I think that's what the nicest thing is, that they actually find out that we're fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters. We're real people with a sense of humor, and we can be understanding."

To Sign Up...

The Sheriff's Department will be accepting applications until Dec. 20 for the next session of the Community Teenage Police Academy. Classes start Jan. 14. For more information, call Deputy Ted Atlas or Deputy Janet Shannon at 867-9715.