31 Jul 2024 Meet your Cabot Cadets

Photos by Lisa Hutchison

The Cabot Police Department recruited 55 families for the seventh annual Special Needs Junior Police Academy Day Camp held July 13 at the Cabot Freshman Academy Cafeteria.

The camp is designed to serve school-age children with disabilities, Cabot Police Capt. John Dodd said.

“The day camp focuses on their abilities and gives them an opportunity to experience what it’s like to be a police cadet,” he said. “There are some kids that, because of diagnosis or medical complicity, cannot participate in a traditional police academy program. We’ve come together to give them an experience all their own and to have fun.

“It also makes us better officers to be around people with different abilities and learn different behaviors. In case they are a victim of a crime, we will know how to assess the situation to help them,” Dodd said. “We also want them to know that, if there is an emergency, they can come find us to help them solve the problem and keep them safe.”

The cadets rotate through several stations of police-related activities at the camp, including operating handcuffs, baton training, conducting sobriety tests and fingerprinting, as well as wearing police tactical gear. Each receives a graduation certificate.

The day camp is free and conducted by volunteers. Cadets receive free Junior Police Academy T-shirts, and free lunch is provided for cadets and their families.

This year’s camp registered cadets with a wide range of abilities and included those diagnosed with autism, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome and Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Dodd said. “Some have had strokes or heart defects,” he said. “Some may be in a wheelchair, be nonverbal or even terminally ill. But they all want to experience what it is like to be a police officer.

“Our police department strives to serve our whole community, which includes our friends with disabilities,” Dodd said. “We are excited to do it again next year.”