‘Our next police officers' Pigeon Forge Police Department launches first-ever junior police academy
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Pigeon Forge Police Department wrapped up its first-ever junior police academy for children between 12 and 16 years old. The class serves as a way to get the children involved with law enforcement early.
The group of 24 learned everything from de-escalation tactics to how to properly put on handcuffs.
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'What we're doing right here is we are looking at these young men and women in our community, and it's a recruitment tool,' Detective Donnie Mashburn said. 'We are getting them prepped, getting them started, and an honest look at what we do every day, so we are excited about that, and hopefully, maybe they'll be some of our next police officers.'
The Junior Cadets went through training exercises that simulated what police officers have to do often. Some of that included hand-to-hand combat, which in this case served as a lesson in self-defense, clearing rooms, and taking a written test that went over everything they learned this week.
Mashburn was right in the middle of a lot of the training that went on. He said it was great seeing the children be able to have fun while learning.
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'Just teaching them so many things. They love the defensive tactics, and that's near and dear to my heart,' Mashburn said. 'In talking to them, it's not about fighting, it's about taking care of yourself and defending yourself, but if you have to, you know how to defend yourself properly. That's been a special topic for me.'
Mashburn said he put his body on the line for one of the taser learning sessions today, hoping the children, seeing what happened instill a respect for law enforcement and show them not to run from the law.
'That tazing does not feel good,' Mashburn explained. 'They saw that, so they know not to run from the law, do what we tell you, it was neat to see that.'
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The week-long academy ended with an obstacle course and awards for those involved. Mashburn told 6 News he's grateful they were able to put on an event like this and thankful for the help of Sevier County Cares and the Sevier County Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs for helping with the academy. We are told the police department hopes to put on more of these academies in the future.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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