By City News Service
About three-dozen teenagers aspiring to careers in law enforcement will graduate today from a Police Explorer Academy in Idyllwild that requires physical fitness and offers a real-world look at police work.
The Hemet Police Department hosted the academy at Camp Emerson, situated in the San Jacinto mountains, beginning on Aug. 7.
Explorers from the Beaumont, Claremont, Hemet and San Bernardino police departments participated in the program, which featured guest instructors from the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI, according to Hemet police Lt.
Dean Evans.
One of the guest speakers was Marcus Young, a Ukiah, Calif., police sergeant who was awarded the Medal of Valor by President George W. Bush in 2004. The lawman was shot five times by a robbery suspect but, with the help of a police cadet, managed to kill the assailant before he could take a shotgun out of the officer's car.
Evans said academy days began at 6 each morning with fitness drills, followed by classes, which focused on leadership, simulated traffic stops, hostage rescue exercises and crime scene investigation techniques.
