Seattle teens get crash course in police work during 5-week internship

Lake Union is so murky that police divers searching for bodies or evidence often use their hands more than their eyes, Sgt. Ed Yamamoto told a group of teenagers at the Seattle police harbor this week.

"This is what you see," Yamamoto said, holding his hand inches in front of his face. "You're literally bumping into things."

He handed a bright-orange dive mask to Elijah Paaga, who attends Bethel High School and turned 17 on Friday.

"You can't be claustrophobic," Yamamoto said as he pulled the mask over the teenager's face.

Paaga's voice came muffled from behind the mask.

"That's like, the raddest thing I've ever seen," he said.

Paaga was one of 10 teens participating in the police department's Teen Employment Program — a five-week paid internship that lets youth work under precinct captains and undergo some basic police training. Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske introduced the program this spring in an effort to reach out to young people. The inaugural group of interns finished the program Friday.

"Some might be interested in police work, some might not be, but we wanted to give them an understanding of every portion of it," said Officer Adrian Diaz, who helped run the program.

The teens were paid $599 — funded by the Seattle Police Foundation — to work 20 hours per week filing reports, taking calls and going on ride-alongs. They also volunteered at some special events, and one day each week was spent in training. They took target practice at a shooting range, saw a K-9 unit, visited with mounted officers and listened to lectures on probable cause and use of force. But Thursday's visit with the harbor unit was the group's favorite, the teens said.

Yamamoto let them take turns steering a boat, and they briefly flew through the air as they cut into another police boat's wake at the equivalent of 60 miles per hour.

"We smashed on those waves," Paaga said. "It was better than Wild Waves."

On the other boat, officer Mike Meder let them try on protective fire gear and man the fire monitor, which can spray 1,500 gallons of lake water per minute.

The harbor patrol training was more exciting than daily work in the precincts, said Thuy Le, a 17-year-old at Ingraham High School, but even that had its thrills.

"Sometimes when you do ride-alongs, you don't really know what will happen," she said.

Le was in the passenger seat of a police car during a high-speed chase, she said. The suspect was armed, but she wasn't scared, she said. She still wants to be a pharmacist — not a cop — when she grows up. But her perception of the job has changed since the summer program, she said.

"It seems fun, but it seems dangerous at the same time."

For the teens without police ambitions, Diaz said he hopes the program will provide a better understanding of what officers do. And the teens interested in a police career are encouraged to participate in the Explorers Program, which is tailored to potential recruits, until they can apply to be officers at age 21.

Paaga, who is considering the Explorers Program, has wanted to be a police officer since he was a kid watching "gangster flicks," he said.

"There's just something cool about being a cop," Paaga said. "It just seems like the right thing to do."

Noelene Clark: 206-464-2321 or nclark@seattletimes.com