Scouts Get a Peek at the Police Department

What it’s like to be a police officer, what do prisoners eat and how does it feel to be tasered are a few of the things Cub Scouts from Den 170 learned recently during a visit to the police station with Officer Joseph Capodiferro and his K-9 Drak.

The boys scrambled all over the department lobby until their parents and den leaders corralled them into the Yates Community Room to meet with Officer Capodiferro. The boys settled into a line of chairs and bounced eagerly.

“What do you think police officers do?” Capodiferro asked the boys, all 6 and 7 years old.

“They arrest people,” came one response.

“They save people,” said another.

“Stop the bad guys from going too fast,” said a third.

Yes, Capodiferro told them. Police do all those things and many more.

“We’re also a source of information. And if someone has something bad happen to them, that’s called the victim. We help the victim. We do a lot of things,” he said.

Next he reviewed with the kids the proper use of 911 – only in an emergency and if you dial by accident, stay on the line so mom or dad can assure the police you’re okay. Otherwise the police are headed to your house.

“Should we practice?” one boy volunteered. No, Capodiferro told him — no practicing.

To start the tour, Capodiferro took the group to the holding cell, a floor to ceiling fenced in area where people are initially kept. A camera an inch from the fencing takes pictures of the people, he explained. A phone on the other side can be slid over and put on speaker so the prisoner can make a phone call.

Outside the cell, he showed them a computer that scans and records fingerprints. He pointed out the circles on their fingertips and explained that each person’s are different.

Capodiferro led them to the real jail cells, a row of small rooms with just a raised mattress and a stainless steel toilet/sink combination. The boys piled on the mattress and explored the sink in amazement.

“You know what they eat?” he said. “McDonalds food, three meals a day.” The kids gasped.

They got to see the sally port, where Capodiferro locked them in and explained how multiple measures prevent a ‘bad guy’ from getting into the police station without an officer.

He then hushed them and explained that they would have to be quiet while visiting the communications center where the dispatchers take 911 calls and talk to people who need help.

They found Dispatcher Mary behind a wall of computer screens, each displaying important information. More screens mounted on the wall show activity in the lobby and jail cells. One screen showed a young woman in a cell, tossing and turning on the small mattress and banging on the wall.

The boys were fascinated with the prisoner. What did she do, they wanted to know.

“I don’t know,” Capodiferro said. “She did something bad and she’s wishing she didn’t do what she did so she could be home eating dinner and watching TV.”

The kids watched the dispatcher track down a 911 call and headed back to the community room.

There, Capodiferro showed them his taser.

“It shoots electricity and it doesn't affect anybody else. If I spray pepper-spray, everybody’ll be affected… We only taser people who want to fight us, who don't want to listen to our rules and directions."

What’s more effective, one boy wanted to know – pepper-spray or the taser?

“My dog,” Capodiferro answered. “No one can stop him.”

Drak came out with a toy in his mouth, walking freely about the room. He mostly ignored the kids as he chewed his toy and listened for Capodiferro’s commands.

Capodiferro explained that Drak is a German shepherd, specially trained in Germany for police work. His commands are given in German, Capodiferro said because it makes it harder for the dog to be misled by ‘the bad guys.’

It’s his super sense of smell that makes him so important, though.

“His nose is 400 times stronger than your nose. He can smell drugs or different chemicals or people.

When the time was over and Drak had said goodnight, he turned around and headed for his car. The boys did, too.

That was cool, two Scouts agreed before racing off to resume their game of tag in the lobby. As they climbed into their cars, they waved to Drak, who was waiting in the cruiser outside for his daddy to come and take him home.