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Teens take on Lenexa Youth Police Academy

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They’re still in school, but for one week, they’ll be treated just like police cadets.

Fifty kids are attending the Youth Police Academy at the Lenexa Police Department. They're hoping to get an up close look at the everyday duties of a police officer.

"We'll hear from our K9 Officers, traffic safety unit, we'll do crime scene investigations," Danny Chavez, Public Information Officer for the Lenexa Police Department said.

But that’s not all. They’ll run radar, fingerprint and get to see much more.

"SWAT Team, I know it’s actually really hard to get into the SWAT Team, I've always wanted to see how they do it and so that's what I'm looking forward to," said Danny Sublette, a first year participant.

In its 10th year, the program showcases the inner workings of a police department, but also shoots to get kids excited about a career in this field.

"We do see it as a little bit of a recruiting tool, but some of these kids are still young and have a lot of years of school ahead of them, but you know, if we can get them interested in law enforcement now, perhaps it is something that they would look at as a career in the future," Chavez said.

Madison Madden is on her third year at the Youth Police Academy.

"I keep coming back because I'm going to be a police officer, I wanted to be a police officer since I was in 5th grade, so it just adds on to that," she said.

Madden says one day she wants to join the K9 Unit, but for others who aren’t sure what they want to do, she says by the end of the week they will.

"Yeah, they do so much stuff that if you are on border line, most kids are like, oh yeah, after this I really want to be a police officer," Madden said.

The Lenexa Youth Police Academy is a one-week program, offered two times each year, for teens ages 13 to 17.