St. Helens Youth Council Member Graduates Law Enforcement Camp

elens Youth Council member Kaylee Ruff and Police Chief Terry Moss pose at the 2017 Law Enforcement Career Camp graduation.

The St. Helens Police Department and City of St. Helens congratulate St. Helens student and Youth Council member Kaylee Ruff on graduating from the Oregon Law Enforcement Career Camp on Friday, August 11, 2017.

The American Legion Law Enforcement Career Camp is a multi-disciplinary camp that exposes students ages 15 to 17 to various aspects of law enforcement. This broadens the exposure of high school students to law enforcement roles across the profession and gives young people a unique opportunity to see if a law enforcement career is a good fit for them. Students must go through an application and selection process to qualify for the program.

The camp is held at the Oregon Public Safety Academy in Salem and the selected students lodge in the academy. The Oregon State Police and American Legion try to make the camp as close to the real police academy life as possible. Students spend a week learning about many law enforcement topics, including patrol operations, forensics, criminal investigations, K-9 services, Fish & Wildlife operations, crash reconstruction, firearms, police values and ethics, search and rescue operations, and observing and participating in demonstrations and exercises.

The camp is presented by the American Legion, Department of Oregon and the Oregon State Police with the cooperation of the Oregon Department of Public Safety, Standards & Training (DPSST).

St. Helens Police Chief Terry Moss gave a presentation at the camp on Monday, August 7, on policing in a small community as part of the Introduction to Policing class. On Friday afternoon, Chief Moss presented on Ethics in Law Enforcement.

To learn more about the career camp, please visit the American Legion, Department of Oregon’s website at http://www.orlegion.org/law-enforcement-career-camp.html.