Clark County Explorer Program, Post 893
o Phone: 360-397-2366
o Email: Shane.Gardner@clark.wa.gov.
o Website: clark.wa.gov/sheriff/support/explorers.html
Vancouver Police Activities League
o Phone: 360-487-7487
o Email: citypal@cityofvancouver.us
o Website: vancouverpal.com
Three children squealed and called out to police Lt. Steve Neal as he entered their west Vancouver home, carrying a box full of food.
Ronnie Overgaard looked over Neal’s navy-blue uniform, gun holster and badge. “Do you know Detective Millard?” asked the 9-year-old.
Adam Millard, another Vancouver police officer, visits Overgaard’s classroom at Fruit Valley Elementary School as part of PAL Patrol. The program, meant to build relationships between kids and officers, targets schools in low-income areas.
Millard thought it made sense to help those same families with extra food for Thanksgiving, and spearheaded the annual food donation effort through the Vancouver Police Activities League.
The nonprofit organization, Neal said, is about children making positive associations with police. So, when Overgaard reached over to give him a fist bump, that was good.
“That’s the kind of connection we’re looking for,” Neal said.
These interactions continue to grow as law enforcement agencies around the county expand outreach programs aimed at children.
After noticing a higher concentration of after-school services on the west side of the city — such as the Boys & Girls Club and family resource centers at schools — Vancouver PAL director John Andersen said he’s focusing on spreading programs east.
A lot more people know about Vancouver PAL now, said Andersen, who’s been at the job for about 1½ years. The organization has been around for a while, but was never really in the spotlight. It isn’t just made up of Vancouver police officers anymore; the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, the state department of corrections and the U.S. Marshals Service recently got involved, as well.
Andersen contacted Shane Gardner, outreach sergeant for the sheriff’s office, to work on bringing programs into his jurisdiction. PAL Patrol started at Hazel Dell Elementary School last spring.
“We need to train kids early on that we’re here to help,” Gardner said. “These are all outreach efforts to show the sheriff’s office isn’t just here when things are bad. We’re here all the time.”
He makes a point to explain jail to kids as time-out for adults, because some of the kids have relatives in jail. “I don’t want to tell a 3 or 4-year-old kid their parent is a bad guy.”
Younger children might not understand the gravity of an officer’s daily duties.
“We have to be careful to craft our message to make sure they know our job is dangerous,” Gardner said. “The next time they see us, we might be working.”
Andersen said he wouldn’t yet describe the organization as widespread. While about 2,400 children were served in the last year, there’s more than 110,000 children estimated to live in Clark County, according to census data.
Over time, the Vancouver PAL board will look at whether reading levels improved and whether juvenile crime rates went down. But that’s long-term. It will be awhile before any of today’s elementary school students will potentially become tomorrow’s juvenile offenders.
“We’re still too early in the game and too young in the program,” Andersen said.
After admissions to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center spiked in 2008, they started trending downward. Last year’s admission rate of 1,467 was the lowest in the last decade.
Multiple chiefs for a day
The Chief for a Day program, which honors kids with life-threatening or chronic illnesses, has also expanded. Two years ago, Gardner went to a meeting regarding the program at the Criminal Justice Training Center in Burien. While there, he noticed that several small cities around the state participated in the program, but Southwest Washington didn’t have much representation besides the sheriff’s office.
He decided to change that and contacted area agencies. The Battle Ground, Camas and La Center police departments committed to the program. Three kids were sworn in as honorary chiefs last summer, and participated in various law enforcement activities and community events.
Inspired to serve
Kids meeting cops face-to-face proved to be an early recruitment tool for one veteran officer.
Vancouver police Cpl. Rey Renolds grew up on Chicago’s South Side in “not exactly the nicest neighborhood,” he said. But, his elementary school had a program called Officer Friendly.
“He came and spoke about being a police officer, being a servant, taking care of people who are less fortunate, catching the bad guys and helping the good guys,” Reynolds said. “It sounded a lot like Superman. … It burned into my psyche the importance of service.”
After 12 years as an officer with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, he was hired at the Vancouver Police Department, where he’s been ever since.
He started touring schools as a school resource officer. Then, a couple of years ago he got involved in the activity league’s literacy program, which served 16 schools last year.
“I was basically coerced by one of my fellow officers, but it was good coercion,” he said. “To tell the truth, it’s a lot of fun.”
Children are interested in what you’re wearing and what you do, he said. The experience, he said, shows them that police are here to support, not necessarily to oppress.
Teens learn leadership
In 2011, Gardner took over the Clark County Explorer Program, which gives students age 15½ to 21 experience in law enforcement and leadership. He’s watched the program steadily grow in popularity. Nineteen explorers with Post 893 went to the statewide academy in Yakima this summer, a bigger representation than anywhere else in the state, he said. This winter, there’s another academy. Students pay to attend, which means pushups and bunk inspections instead of chilling out for winter break.
“They’re some of the best of the best,” Gardner said.
Many cadets work part time at the sheriff’s office while attending a local college, possibly leading to a law enforcement career. Clark County sheriff’s Cmdr. Steve Shea and Deputy Lindsay Schultz used to be Explorers, Gardner said.
Some of the college-age cadets in the program are asked to lead after-school programs for Vancouver PAL, Andersen said.
It’s one way to get them thinking about their futures. Hudson’s Bay High School adopted a mentoring program this year where police officials and community members talk to students about getting ready for college or the workforce. The Vancouver Police Department recently hired a cadet from the Explorer Program, making the outreach effort come full circle.
