Junior Police Academy Gives Darien Students Taste of Law Enforcement

Nearly 20 students were fingerprinted and booked Thursday morning at the Darien Police Department, but they hadn't done anything wrong.

Instead, the kids were participating in the third annual led by Officer Nick Skweres, a Darien native who also runs the city’s D.A.R.E. program.

During the two-week program, students in fifth grade through freshman year of high school get to tour the and are introduced to a variety of law enforcement topics including criminal law, traffic, Internet safety, defensive tactics, and even try to pass the field sobriety test while wearing goggles that mimic how a drunken person sees.

Cole Haubenreiser, 10, is enjoying the program, which runs to Aug. 19.

“I am so excited about these two weeks,” he said. “We get to see what they actually have to do in order to become a cop and to catch people."

Katrina Haines, 10, wasn’t able to attend last year’s program because of a scheduling conflict, but her brother did.

“He got me interested,” she said. “It’s really fun.”

Skweres said this is the first time a session of the Junior Police Academy has been held in August. After hearing from parents that their children wanted to participate but couldn’t because of early summer sports camps and other activities, officials decided to see how the program would fare in August. It’s proven to be a success.

“This is by far my biggest class,” Skweres said. "(It lets us) reach 19 families and show them the good side of the police. Most of the time, when kids have contact with the police it’s not good."