CLEVELAND — From large metro departments to rural townships, law enforcement agencies of all types and sizes have struggled with recruitment in recent years. While a program put on by the Cleveland Division of Police aims to bolster its recruitment efforts, the program’s primary purpose is to develop and mentor the community’s next wave of leaders.
The Cleveland Police Law Enforcement Explorer program is run by the division’s Bureau of Community Affairs and pairs young adults ages 14 to 20 with current law enforcement officers. The extensive program exposes kids to many aspects of the law enforcement profession, including traffic stops and crime scene processing. Patrol Officer Adrian Calhoun said the program’s broader goal is to build important life skills.
“This program is an amazing one; I wish I had this opportunity when I was younger,” Calhoun said. “We tell them to be the change they want to see. I didn’t have any family on the job. I wanted to become the change. I love the opportunity that I have to become mentors for these kids and also continue on that mission of getting more productive citizens on the job. Some want to be police officers. Some want to go off to school. My goal is just to produce productive citizens with these kids.”
Prior to joining the Cleveland Division of Police, Calhoun was in the medical field, serving as a nurse’s assistant while also going to school to further his career. In that line of work, Calhoun came into contact with a number of police officers, who eventually convinced him to apply to become a police officer.
Now Calhoun has the privilege of patrolling the neighborhood he grew up in.
“I have good relationships with the kids. Some call me their big brother. Some call me a father figure. That’s one of the things I look forward to,” Calhoun said. “That’s one thing that keeps me going every day, just knowing that I’m making a difference in these kids' lives.”
This year’s police explorer class features a diverse group of young adults, including Olivia Vera, Tiara Cammon, Jim Kulikowski, and Sam Ali II.
Cammon, the daughter of Sammika Cammon, who serves as an advisor for the Explorers program, said her interest in law enforcement stems from a positive experience she had with police.
“I plan on going to the academy and becoming a police officer to keep giving back and helping others,” Tiara Cammon said. “I grew up not having a lot of confidence, being shy. This program has showed me how to be disciplined.”
That positive interaction with law enforcement paved the way for Sammika Cammon to join the program too.
“My family and I were going through a rough patch. We were putting back the pieces of our lives from domestic violence. The program found us,” Sammika Cammon said. “When my family and I were in a crisis. The law enforcement was there for us. It’s an opportunity for me to expose my children and the cadets with the opportunity to give back as well. The one message I’ve always been taught all my life. If you want to see the difference, you have to be the difference.”
