Police take teens out for a spin

The Ford Taurus barely made it through the orange cones Thursday before it began spinning out of control, burning rubber and throwing gravel.

But the teenage driver didn’t get a lecture. He got laughs, taunts and jeers from classmates who already had their chance to lose control of the “spin car.”

“This is the exact training we give police recruits,” Spokane Police Officer Jerry Mertens said. “They learn to control the car as it goes out of control.”

While purposefully causing a car to spin out was cool, the students said, it was just one of many sessions at the pre-law enforcement class at the Spokane Area Professional-Technical Skills Center, which is operated by Spokane Public Schools.

Mertens taught the students how to investigate crime scenes, interview people, target-shoot and write police reports. They studied laws and police procedures, traffic law and how a police dog works.

“It gives them a chance to walk in the shoes of a police officer,” Mertens said.

The spin cars have rear wheels that have been replaced by two aircraft wheels. Those are needed to withstand the pounding and sideways skids, Mertens said.

The rear wheels are mounted on swivels that force the front-wheel drive car to drift as if hitting a patch of black ice. A controller in the car hits the switch to either drive straight or out of control, Mertens said.

April Packwood, an 18-year-old senior at Ferris High School, said she wanted to become a paralegal before she enrolled in the class.

“Now I’m leaning toward becoming a cop,” said Packwood as she watched a classmate spin out. “I’m good at all the paperwork. I can order people around really good.”

Packwood hadn’t fired a gun until this class.

“I was scared. Then they made fun of my stance,” she said. “They said I stood like Charlie’s Angels.”

Packwood got the first run in the “spin car” on Wednesday, which was the first day of the exercise.

“I lost control and spun out a little bit,” she said. “It’s fun doing that.”

Mertens said he also had the students drive through a slow-speed obstacle course, something that once was required for all driver’s education classes.

“The kids really enjoyed it. They said it was good driver training for them,” he said.

Like Packwood, most of the juniors and seniors in the class plan to pursue careers in law enforcement.

Ty Madison, an 18-year-old senior at Rogers High School, is in his second year in the course. This year he helped as a teacher’s assistant, he said.

“This has really showed me that there is more to it than just fighting crime,” said Madison, a three-year member of the Spokane Police Explorer program. “There’s a lot of paperwork and investigating you have to put in to get the bad guys.”

Madison, who already talks like cop, said he’s wanted to wear the badge since age 8.

“Without this training, this actually would be a hard job to go into right off the street,” he said. “And Jerry makes it fun.”

Garid Hicks, a 17-year-old junior at Rogers, said the class has been a kick.

“We got to see a lot of mock scenes, got to handle a firearm, drive the car – it’s actually pretty exciting,” said Hicks, who also wants to be a cop.

“I want to help people and do things that people don’t see every day. I just always wanted to be one of the good guys.”