Written by Amanda Pevey
News from Elmore Autauga
Images courtesy of EAN and Capt. Stephen Youngblood
On Friday, Millbrook Middle School honored the 18 graduates of the Millbrook Junior Police Academy as members of the class of 2025-2. The Millbrook Police Department held its second camp this week. Students gained knowledge about police officers, collaboration, and physical training during the week. For the cadets, the academy experience is always enjoyable.
The three officers in command of the Millbrook Police Academy were SRO Matt Henson, SRO Corporal Kristen White, and Captain Stephen Youngblood.
The students participated in numerous police enforcement demonstrations throughout the week. The pupils witnessed a real demonstration of OC (Pepper Spray) and Taser. Jeremy Schultz, a teacher at Millbrook Middle School, volunteered to use a Taser. Kierra Savage, a Millbrook Police Dispatcher, volunteered for OC Spray.
Crime scene investigation, SWAT, hostage negotiations, K-9 demonstrations, building clearing, self-defense, approaching a car, conducting a vehicle search, and much more were among the topics covered by the cadets.
Chief P.K. Johnson gave an oath of promise to the cadets during the event. They were sworn to uphold all laws, help their fellow residents, and report anything they saw. Michael Gay, the president of the city council, and Mayor Al Kelley were present.
“I would like to express my gratitude to Captain Youngblood, Lieutenant Henson, Corporal White, and the entire Millbrook Police Department staff for making the effort to interact with your children and introduce them to the police department,” Mayor Kelly said.
“Just know that these are the good guys, not the bad guys,” he added. You young adults over there, I want to thank you. You are young adults now, not children. We appreciate you taking the time and making the effort to spend the week with our lads and gals.
The Junior Police Academy was in its second week. Captain Stephen Youngblood stated that the class of 2025 graduated 18 on Friday.
“Lt. Henson did an excellent job of recruiting kids for the Junior Academy,” he added. We received more than 80 applications. We look forward to this program every year. Lt. Henson, Cpl. White, and I take pleasure in instructing the participants. It’s rewarding and enjoyable. When parents tell us that their kids could not stop talking about the program, we love hearing their stories. We think it’s a fantastic way to build good relationships with our young people and let them know that the police are available to assist them. The week at the Junior Police Academy is jam-packed with demonstrations, exercises, and important life skills. They see K9, SRT, Taser, and OC spray demonstrations. They have the opportunity to investigate crime scenes, perform traffic stops, drive while intoxicated, and search vehicles for drugs.
“This wonderful group of young people sacrificed a week of their summer vacation to learn about the training that law enforcement officers are exposed to when we attend the Police Academy,” stated Millbrook Police Chief Johnson. Please understand that we are not aiming to recruit young people from our community to work as police officers in the future. Developing good ties with our community was the focus of this week. There is no better place to begin than with the young people in our community!
According to Johnson, the intention was for every young person in attendance to learn and have a little fun while seeing the men and women who serve their community as individuals, similar to their parents but with different occupations. We are able to participate in community policing initiatives like this, as well as our Cops & Kids and Operation Blue Santa programs, because of the leadership and support of our Millbrook City Council and Mayor Al Kelley. The Elmore County Board of Education, Millbrook Middle School, Millbrook Street Department, the Elmore County Children’s Partnership SOAR Program, and others that collaborated with us to make this week possible are also deserving of my gratitude.
Last but not least, I would want to express my gratitude to Captain Stephen Youngblood Jr., Lieutenant Matt Henson, and Corporal Kristen White, who served as our main academy instructors this week. Throughout the week, a variety of our officers and staff helped out. Thank you and well done to everyone who helped make this event a success!
We would especially like to thank the following groups and volunteers:
SOAR Program, Elmore County Partnership for Children
Middle School in Millbrook
Central AL Police K9
Volunteers for tasers: teacher Mr. Jeremy Schultz
OC volunteer: dispatcher Ms. Kierra Savage
Department of Streets
Pines Golf Course.
A number of Millbrook Police Department officers contributed to the success of this initiative.
For information on when to apply for the camp, please visit Millbrook Middle School’s Facebook page in the spring of 2026 if you are interested in this program. This is the Facebook page for Millbrook Middle School: https://www.facebook.com/share/1FWTtbATAF/?mibextid=wwXIfr.
For additional information, get in touch with the Millbrook Police Department.
