La Mesa Police Department<\/a> Lieutenant Travis Higgins to discuss the academy.<\/p>\nLMC:\u00a0How many years has this academy been taking place?<\/p>\n
Higgins:\u00a0The academy has been taking place for approximately 15-plus years.<\/p>\n
LMC:\u00a0What has\u00a0been the general reaction from the community in the past to this event?<\/p>\n
Higgins:The community response has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents consistently report that their children enjoy the hands-on activities and interactive learning experiences. Many families appreciate the opportunity for their children to engage directly with public safety professionals in a fun, safe, and educational environment. The event has become something many families look forward to each year.<\/p>\n
LMC:\u00a0For kids and parents\/guardians attending for the first time, what advice do you have for them?<\/p>\n
Higgins:\u00a0For first-time attendees, we encourage families to come ready to participate, ask questions, and have fun. We do see repeat attendees within the 6\u20139 age category, which speaks to how much families enjoy the program. That said, because the class fills up quickly each year, we do try to prioritize children who have not previously attended to ensure as many new participants as possible have the opportunity to experience the academy.<\/p>\n
LMC:\u00a0Could this be the stepping stone one day for a child to pursue a career in law enforcement, firefighting, lifeguarding, etc.?<\/p>\n
Higgins:\u00a0Absolutely. It\u2019s meant to be fun and educational, but it can definitely spark an interest. Giving kids positive exposure to law enforcement, firefighting, and lifeguarding helps them see what those careers are really about. For some, it might even plant the seed for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Overview: La Mesa Police Department’s KidzWatch Safety Academy It provides them with an array of safety lessons, including…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[2305,94159,6572,12850,3607,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-203015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-children","tag-childrens-safety","tag-la-mesa","tag-la-mesa-police-department","tag-safety","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}