BENTONVILLE — Hands shot into the air Wednesday when Deputy James Chamberlain took questions about police dogs during the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Junior Police Academy.
Fast Facts
Police Outreach
- The Junior Police Academy is sponsored by the Police Athletic League.
- The league is a youth-crime prevention program that uses educational, athletic and recreational activities to create trust and understanding between police officers and youth.
- The league offers free year-round and seasonal educational, athletic and cultural programs for any child between the ages of 4 and 17.
The league is a nonprofit, youth-serving organization through the cooperative effort of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, Rogers Activity Center and the Boys & Girls Club.
Source: Benton County Sheriff’s Office
Chamberlain introduced 44 children, ages 8 through 11, to Hugo, one of three police dogs owned by the Sheriff’s Office.
“What kind of dog is he?”
“Can any dog be a police dog?”
Chamberlain patiently fielded question after question before putting Hugo, a Belgian malinois from Holland, through his paces in front of a training room full of children.
“He doesn’t understand a word of English,” Chamberlain told the group. “He takes his commands in Dutch. Very few people speak that, so the bad guys don’t know what I’m ordering him to do.”
This is the fourth year for the Junior Police Academy, according to Capt. Chris Sparks. The academy is a weeklong session for kids that spans all aspects of law enforcement, including a tour of the jail, visits to court and a trip to the Northwest Arkansas Police Academy training facility in Elm Springs.
“This year is the biggest classes we’ve had,” Sparks said. “We had 42 last week and 44 this week.”
Sparks said the academy, which is free, is an important public relations tool for the department.
“We give them the basics on everything about law enforcement to try and create a bond,” Sparks said. “There are so many kids who only have a negative image of law enforcement officers.”
After Hugo’s performance — he alerted Chamberlain to a small amount of marijuana hidden in the room — the group tried their hand at outwitting the two-legged officers.
The class took an object representing drugs and attempted to hide it in a vehicle. Officers would then search the vehicle to find the hidden stash.
Officers in the Crime Suppression Unit have been fairly effective at finding drugs, Cpl. Corey Coggin told the class.
“There are five (deputies) in our unit, counting Hugo,” Coggin said. “Between the five of us, we made 387 arrests last year and made over 2,200 traffic stops.”
The unit focuses on drugs, people with warrants and illegal firearms, Coggin said.
The class continues today focusing on the DWI Task Force and the Sheriff’s Office Lake Patrol.
The class will have a graduation ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, then go to the University of Arkansas for a presentation by Scotty Thurman. Thurman was a member of the 1994 National Championship basketball team at the University of Arkansas. He was named director of student athlete development for the Razorback basketball team in 2010.