NORTHVALE — For the Northvale Police Department, recruiting starts young.
Carrying binders and donning black shirts, as many as 24 seventh- and eighth-graders attended Northvale’s first-ever Junior Police Academy.
"What we really want to do is give them a different atmosphere," Patrolman Robert Pizzi told the parents at the meeting. "We want everyone to enjoy themselves and for everyone to have a great experience."
Pizzi directed the Junior Police Academy effort, approaching Police Chief Bruce Tietjen with the idea six months ago. He then consulted local officials, secured a $5,000 grant and developed the program with feedback from the Rivervale Police Department, which has a similar program.
The academy program includes a special presentation on gang awareness by prison inmates, a DWI parent night and a field trip to the Passaic County jail in Paterson. Rockleigh Mayor Nicholas Langella, Municipal Alliance liaison and Councilwoman JoAnn Traub and Police Department members showed their support for the parents and students who sat in on the class.
Tietjen made the opening remarks, congratulating Pizzi for his drive and interest in reaching out to young people.
Mayor John Hogan also spoke, saying that the academy is "a valuable asset to the community.
"Police work takes a certain type of individual who is brave and willing to stand up against evil for the community," added Hogan.
Officer David Marrero, a Northvale resident and member of the Bergen County gang task force, swore to the audience that there is at least one gang member in every Bergen County town.
Through PowerPoint slides, Marrero flashed newspaper clippings about gang violence with the Black Eyed Peas song "Where is the Love" playing in the background.
Using several photos copied from MySpace Web pages, Marrero described the gangs best known as the Crips, Bloods, Latin Kings and MS-13. Gang recruiting, he explained, targets young men and women at increasing rates.
"I do not want to see you get involved with this," he warned the students.
He then described the telltale signs of a gang member and a typical gang initiation ceremony.
"You think this is worth it? None of this is worth it," he said after showing pictures of a typical 31-second "beat-in" initiation.
Marrero also answered questions from one student who wanted to know whether the Latin Kings allied themselves with other gangs.
At the conclusion of the hour-and-a-half session, Pizzi thanked Marrero and again reminded the students of their new responsibilities as members of the Junior Police Academy.
"Remember that when you’re wearing the T-shirt, you’re one of our own," said Pizzi.
