Bear den meeting 4 "Law Enforcement is a Big Job"

[AlamanceScouter]

My Bear den will be working on meeting in about 3 weeks from now.....the theme is "Law Enforcement is a Big Job". The boys did the police station visit as Tiger's and as Wolves. Does anybody have any good ideas for doing something different?

[Scoutfish]

Are you on a freindly basis with a sheriff? Maybe have them come to a meeting, talk, show off the car, let the scouts push a button or two on the siren. Maybe have a drug dog do a demo?

 

Tough call if they have been to jail twice already!

 

Maybe Wildlife Resources officer or Marine Fisheries Oficer.

[Penta]

I'm unfamiliar with the precise boundaries of this theme, but if you interpret it broadly:

 

If they already have visited the local police station (which I admit would be my first choice for kids of that age), I don't know, but a police officer of any sort coming to them might be more of the same. If you're on good terms with a criminal defense lawyer, or a prosecutor, or a judge - Heck, even if you aren't, I don't think it'd hurt to just call your local county-level trial court (in NJ it's the Superior Court), get a court administrator, and ask if there are any judges (and court staff) willing to meet with a Cub Scout den, and see if they can rope in a prosecutor and defense lawyer too, with you going to them at the courthouse maybe. Most den meetings happen too late in the day for the boys to see trials (those tend to be wrapping up around 3-5 PM) or most court sittings at all, sadly - unless you can somehow meet on a day where the kids do not have school but that *isn't* a court holiday, and if you can, then, obviously, you want to be careful what cases the boys encounter. (Realistically, I would let the court staff decide what makes sense for the age group - They know better than you do which cases would be appeal-bait if Cub Scouts are in the audience, what cases would bore the kids, and so forth.)

 

No, court doesn't necessarily have the cool factor of the cops, but that doesn't mean it can't keep them interested. If nothing else, it shows where arguing with their parents can get them - law school and a high-paying job as an attorney.

[ScoutNut]

How about simply NOT doing that one?

 

For COUNTRY you have to do 3 out of 5 areas. Choose one of the other two for the rank requirement instead of doing #7 (Law Enforcement).

 

Then, if you feel like it later on, you can do parts of #7 for Electives.

 

[Lisabob]

Does your school district have a community relations officer assigned to any of its schools? Around here, this is a common thing and I know that many of the officers look for positive ways to connect with the students (rather than being only the "heavy"). Maybe invite that officer to a meeting.

 

The police dogs were a big hit when we did this, except for the fact that a couple of *younger* fellows were afraid of the dog. Might want to make sure parents know in advance so that they don't bring their 3-year-old to the meeting?

 

Do you have an explorer post linked to your police/fire/first responders? Explorers is another BSA program where older youth do some job shadowing and learn about various career areas. We have an explorer post in this area that gets to ride with cops on some calls, attended a couple of days at a police academy, etc. If they exist in your area, this might be a cool way for those kids to lend a hand by coming to a meeting and sharing some of what they're learning, and we know that younger kids will idolize what the older kids are doing. (Call your council to inquire about contact info for any such explorer posts in your area).

 

 

[denleader09]

We visited the county courthouse instead. The boys got to see the different courtrooms, see the fingerprinting system (old way and computerized) and the holding cells. Even the elevator had a cell in it. They also got to see the video system that is used to watch the county jailhouse.

 

The next meeting we did CSI: cub scout investigator night. There we fingerprinted, plastercasted footprints, determined height from footprints, etc. We also did the fingerprints on a pen using superglue.

[AKdenldr]

One year we toured the FBI.

 

Another year we had a police officer come to our den meeting. That was very sucessful, the boys were very attentive and had lots of questions.

 

The Bear book is great because there is more choice on what the boys do.

[Mom2Scouts06]

We had CSI come in one year and the boys got to make fingerprints and collect "evidence"/ They thought it was really cool. Of course it helps to have a Police Seargant, Lt and Captain in your pack!

[SctDad]

Have your local Law Enforcement come out and talk about the Achievment. Take the boys finger prints and stuff like that. Our plaster casting activity go pushed to the side as it was raining heavily.

 

Not to mention the parents can have a complete set of finger prints and stuff if the worst should happen.

[Eagle92]

How about the SWAT team coming out. Saw a troop do that as a recruiting nite, and got the cubs really pumped. The 2 team members brought out all of the equipment from the van, and let them handle some of it: nite vision goggles, grenade launcher, crowd control shield, bb gun, etc.

 

Also seen the Search and Rescue team come out and let the dogs do their thing. Kinda nice having one of your Eagles build training obstacles for his project, as the handles loved showing off what their dogs could do and how the obstacles helped with training.

[raisinemright]

I invited a guy I knew who is a Federal Agent and on the national SWAT Team. He came in the house as everyone was arriving and went upstairs.

 

As I was opening the meeting, suddenly the boys saw, coming slowly down the stairs black boots, camo pants, knee pads, camo, pistol belt, ballistic vest, M4 submachine gun, facemask, goggles, helmet.

 

Yep, it got their attention.

 

He also showed them a video of his being on the receiving end of a Taser for training.

 

We finished up by taking fingerprints of eac scout and giving the cards to the parents.

[Penta]

Raisinemright: Is it wrong for a guy of 26 to envy a bunch of Cub Scouts?

 

The one caution I have re everybody's plans: The fingerprints. They're not bad, they're fun for the kids (which is the most important thing), but I think parents need to have it explained to them that the cards are more of a keepsake than anything else, just for the sake of truth in advertising - I think it'd be bad if the parents got a false sense of security. The rules in most areas that I'm familiar with are clear that any such fingerprints can't be kept by the police, even if the parents want that, and I'd be surprised if such a fingerprint card met the technical requirements (or chain of custody requirements, if it was produced via this method) to be used in any conceivable situation. Much more effective, if you're worried about missing/runaway/abducted kids, I'd think, if you instead advised the parents to keep stuff with the child's hair/skin/DNA on it for police forensics types to collect and analyze in the event.

[AlamanceScouter]

Thanks for all of these replies!

[clydesdale115]

We visited the county's 911 Call Center - VERY fascinating, and they were glad to have us. Our boys (and parents!) were mesmerized at all the video monitors, phone operators with headsets, screens, computers everywhere, lights were turned low - it was way cool!

 

And while we were there, some child actually made a prank call into the center - uh-oh!

clyde

 

[BadenP]

One other option, see if your council has a Law Enforcement Explorer Post. These young people will really be able to relate to your boys what it is like learning about and working with law enforcement agencies in your area.