Teens Jumpstart Public Safety Careers
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Area teenagers are put to a law enforcement test. Students from Desert Hot Springs High School discover what it takes to break into a career in public safety. Video by kmir6.com
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A few dozen students visited College of the Desert to discover what it takes to break into a career in public safety. The students are enrolled in public safety courses at Desert Hot Springs High School-- a new program funded by a state grant.
"This is what i want to do. I want to be a police officer," said Lorena Resenes, a 10th grader at Desert Hot Springs High School.
DHS graduate Andrew Hernandez was in their shoes ten years ago.
"As kids we were told we were just a bunch of hoodlums and the idea we were projected is so easy to follow," said Hernandez.
Hernandez even remembers having a negative view of the police.
"I just knew they locked up a lot of people I knew," he said.
Now in the COD academy he sees things differently.
"Their just a public servant trying to help you ou," he said.
The students experience firsthand that learning to be a lifesaver takes you outside the classroom. As part of the day, students went through an agility test which including dragging a 160-pound fake body and climbing over a wall.
"I feel great that I didn't give up and that I accomplished it," said DHS student Daisy Orozco, who finished the test.
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