Grade 12 students experience a day as police officers

We are giving Grade 12 students from across Calgary a firsthand look at policing during the 2025 Student Police Academy.

The Student Police Academy, held Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at Heritage Park Historical Village, is organized by Calgary Police Service (CPS) School Resource Officers, in partnership with the Calgary Police Youth Foundation. The academy gives Grade 12 students the opportunity to work with an officer coach, who teaches them how police use verbal communication, conflict resolution and arbitration skills to approach different types of calls for service.

The students are given mock police uniforms and respond to a variety of scenario-based activities around the park, including mock robberies, checks on welfare, noise complaints and collisions.

“This is a great opportunity for students to see what a day in the life of a police officer is like,” says Const. Leah Berti, School Resource Officer with the CPS. “These students have expressed an interest or curiosity in policing, and this allows them to get hands-on experience with the job in a safe environment and helps them understand the complex dynamics that can be involved in responding to emergency calls.”

The CPS School Resource Officer program allows police officers to be embedded in schools across Calgary to develop positive relationships with students and assist administration with general school safety and issues affecting students.