NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY) — Nearly 60,000 thousand children are incarcerated daily in the United States. Local law enforcement is helping keep that number down here in Acadiana through junior officer programs in elementary schools.
Johnston Hopkins Elementary School in New Iberia aims to deter its students from committing crimes when they’re older by building positive relationships with police while they are young.
As part of today’s lesson, New Iberia Police invited Louisiana State Police as a guest speaker, who flew a helicopter to Johnston Hopkins’ campus.
Cpl. Christine Clark-Gammage, the coordinator for the New Iberia Police Department’s Junior Officer Academy, said the 10-week program teaches the cadets what police do for the community.
“It is basically bridging the gap between law enforcement and our youth in the community so that they can get a better understanding of what we do,” Gammage said.
She said teaching them to respect law enforcement while they’re young is also …