Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks donates to provide police cadet gear

The Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks presented a check for $1,300 to the Sedona Police Cadet Program on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 17, to pay for the cost of 11 belts and holsters.

The cadet program is funded by private organizations including the Rotary Club and Pink Jeep Tours, which provided transportation to the Chandler Tactical Competition.

The cadets are advised by Sedona Police Officer Catherine Beers and SPD School Resource Officer Michael Lucas.

“I saw an article in the Sedona Red Rock News last fall, so when we went to do our budgeting for this year’s donations, I brought it up to the board and they thought it was a great idea,” Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks Treasurer Donna Hawk said. “So I reached out to Officer Beers, and asked what they needed in the way of equipment or how we could support them …Since it started in 2002, [the club] has historically supported youth-oriented projects and programs, and that fits into our mission of helping kids and supporting young people.”

The cadets are all assigned a basic uniform with duty belts. The cost of equipment can add up quickly, as the plastic dummy pistols the teenagers carry can cost a couple of hundred dollars.

“When we go to competitions, and some of the other teams are all tac-ed out, and they have tourniquets for their kids, they’re dressed like cops, like they have everything that we have,” Beers said. “We’re obviously not funded in a way to do that [because] we rely on donations.”

Beers thinks the donation will motivate the kids better than having mismatched uniforms will. During a typical session with students, SPD will provide the same equipment their officers use during a patrol from first-aid kits to carry mats. The only equipment participants supply are their own boots.

“We just recently last year switched [the name] from Explorers to Cadets,” Beers said. “So they have their polo shirts, we’re still wearing our older vests … Myself and Officer Lucas paid to get them all flashlights [and beanies] for competition in January … So it’s either funded by us or the community.”

The cadets are nearly unanimous in stating that their favorite memory since joining was the Chandler Tactical Competition.

“The competition in Chandler is my favorite memory, but like the whole thing [has been great], but especially the shooting, because I got to shoot my first gun there and it was really fun,” said 15-year-old Verde Valley School student Krystal Diaz. She plans to pursue a career as a criminal defense attorney.

“What you learn in cadets is valuable, I think, to other aspects of life,” said Maxwell Jankowski, a 17-year-old Sedona Red Rock High School student. “It’s where we would go and learn how to clear rooms. We take the empty buildings over here in the city hall, we stack up and we check the rooms, and clear [them] … I imagine doing that in the actual line of duty is terrifying. I was excited, you’re not facing any real danger. But then you think about it after the fact. I think any fear that would come from it is realizing that don’t know if there’s an armed man in that room, and you have to make sure that because your partner’s life is on the line.”

Ari Tedrick and Ryan Pfaff, both 15-year-old SRRHS students, said that the mock drug lab raids during the Chandler competition were a peak moment for them as well.

“It’s a very fun program, and I really hope that we get more members because it’s great,” Jankowski said. “I think it would be more immersive and more realistic with more members and anyone can join. It’s an open program as long as you dedicate yourself to it.”