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Redondo Beach police describe nine-week 'Teens in Policing' summer program
Summary
Officer Kyle Lofstrom told the Youth Commission the Redondo Beach Police Department runs a nine-week summer program for students entering grades 7–12 that combines constitutional education, scenario training and certificates; the commission voted to file the presentation.
Officer Kyle Lofstrom, the community-based officer for the Redondo Beach Police Department, presented the department's Teens in Policing summer program to the Redondo Beach Youth Commission during the meeting (date not specified). Lofstrom said the nine-week program is aimed at students entering grades seven through 12 and pairs classroom instruction with hands-on scenarios and demonstrations.
Lofstrom told commissioners the program’s goals include educating participants about constitutional rights, forming relationships between youth and officers, providing mentorship and exposing students to law-enforcement work. "The program's called, Teens in Policing," Lofstrom said. He described the program as focused on education and relationship-building rather than recruitment: "We're not trying to do this as a recruitment tool per se."
The curriculum runs about two hours on weekdays during the summer and Lofstrom described a week-by-week plan: an initial session with the police chief and an in-depth look at the Bill of Rights; a mock traffic-stop scenario; canine demonstrations; a SWAT demonstration; TacMed/Stop the Bleed training (with certificates); a crime-scene investigation exercise; defensive-tactics training; DUI and traffic-investigation instruction with sobriety-goggle exercises; and a mock foot pursuit. "There are no firearms," Lofstrom said when asked about a photo that showed students with training props; he clarified the program uses inert "blue guns" for scenario training.
Lofstrom provided participation details: background checks are done, organizers prefer applicants with a nexus to Redondo Beach, and the program typically accepts entering seventh through twelfth graders. He gave recent cohort sizes as: 8 students in the first class he described, 9 in the second, 18 in the third and 14 in the fourth. He said his target capacity is about 20 participants to allow adequate time for all scenarios.
Commissioners asked logistical and safety questions about cohort size and training props. Lofstrom said students receive a certificate of completion and a small honorary pin on program graduation.
A motion to receive and file the presentation was made, seconded and approved by voice vote; no roll-call breakdown was recorded in the transcript. Following the vote, Lofstrom thanked commissioners for the opportunity to present and invited interested students and parents to contact him for applications and details.
The presentation included references to the commission's role in youth services: Lofstrom noted the item falls under the commission’s powers and duties to remain informed on programs providing youth services to Redondo Beach.
