Forks Cancels Summer Youth Police Academy

There will be no Summer Youth Police Academy in Forks Township this year.

"It is with great disappointment that we must announce there will be no Summer Youth Police Academy for 2013," the police department posted on its Facebook page Tuesday. "Unfortunately, due to reduced staffing levels, the police department will not have sufficient personnel to run the event."

Forks Community Resource Officer Brooks Kranich said the department was forced to cut some community policing programs due to the staff reduction.

"Unfortunately, the academy is probably our most manpower-intensive. We just don’t have the personnel to commit to it this year," Kranich said. "As the person who runs this program and a resident/taxpayer of the township, it’s highly disappointing."

Kranich said the program has operated for a decade and he's been heading it for the past five years.

He said class sizes have ranged between 25-30 cadets between ages 11 and 14 and that the program was staffed with two officers, with other officers assisting at various times for certain events/presentations.

The program has taken place the second or third week in July and has been offered free, Kranich said.

"We are hoping that the Academy will return in 2014," the Facebook post concluded. "We would like to thank the hundreds of parents and cadets who have made this event a success in years past."