By Meghan E. Irons
Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The blood on the mannequin’s chest was fake and so was the pink money on the table. The drugs lying next to it weren’t real, either.
But this artificial crime scene required a real CSI effort.
The sleuths called to the task were high school students, armed with sketch pads, black gloves, and police tape.
As they launched their investigation, looking for fingerprints, picking up fibers, and noting the evidence with yellow triangular markers, the group of 14- to 18-year-olds was embarking on an experiment at the Cambridge Police Department designed to break down walls between youths and police and also build an early interest in policing as a ca reer.
“It’s pretty cool,’’ said Michaela Peterson, a 15-year-old from North Cambridge who, like the other teens, is getting paid $8 an hour for the six-week summer program. “It’s sort of like a game.’’
But Peterson, like many of her fellow investigators, has little interest in turning this game into a career, an obstacle that many police departments across the state have been facing in their quest for future officers.
Today’s youth, and even many adults, aren’t thrilled by officers’ relatively low pay, long hours, and dangerous line of work. And they don’t see policing as a long-term career.
“It’s unbelievable the difficulties that we’ve seen,’’ said Terrence M. Cunningham, the president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association. “Over the last eight to 10 years, it’s been difficult to get real strong, quality candidates.’’
While hiring has become a moot issue for many communities because of the recession, municipalities were having a hard time filling officers’ ranks even before dwindling revenues forced many to freeze salaries.
About 2,100 fewer people took the police civil service exam this year compared with two years ago: The number is down from 13,188 in 2007 to 11,093 this year.
Few had the qualifications - a college degree as well as clean criminal and driving records, for instance - that departments desire, said Cunningham, who is also Wellesley’s police chief.
So police departments have stepped up recruiting efforts to find qualified candidates and are offering new incentives, such as paying for moving expenses.
But it has been a challenge.
“If you’re looking for someone to come with a bachelor’s degree and work for $40,000 a year, it’s not going to happen,’’ Cunningham said, referring to what he said is the average salary statewide for police officers. “The interest [in the job] is really starting to wane.’’
For instance, he said, only one Wellesley resident who took the civil service test last year said he wanted to join the force. Brookline also saw a sharp decline. More than 60 residents took the test several years ago, but only seven took the last exam, said Brookline Police Chief Daniel C. O’Leary.
Jack McDevitt, associate dean at Northeastern University’s college of criminal justice, said departments already dealing with budget woes are also confronting new challenges in recruiting and retention. Recruits aren’t rushing to join the force and they don’t want to stay long.
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“This doesn’t seem like a well-paid career to people who want to go into business, law, or even government service,’’ he said.
Boston has also seen a fading interest in policing, said Sergeant Michael O’Connor, who coordinates the department’s Junior Police Academy, for children ages 8 to 12, and its Explorers Program, geared to high school-age youths.
While more youths participated the Explorers Program this year than in previous years, more youths are also dropping out of the program. Last fall, only 28 of 54 youths ages 14 to 18 who signed up finished the six-month Explorers Program. The year before, he said, only 17 graduated.
O’Connor faulted a lack of commitment and discipline on the part of some teens. “Every kid is different,’’ he said. “Some had preconceived ideas about what to expect.’’
Holly Brenier, a neighborhood coordinator for the Cambridge police, said she conceived the youth academy to reach teens early to generate interest in policing. But even she concedes it’s a tough sell. “It’s just not something people are interested in anymore,’’ she said.
Youth policing programs are critical in helping to counter negative perceptions teens may have about the force, said Kurt Schwartz, the state’s undersecretary for law enforcement and fire services.
“This is a way to start building that relationship,’’ said Schwartz.
At Cambridge police headquarters recently, reporters were flocking to one room where officials were fielding questions about the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
In another room, more than a dozen teens were waiting for their work to begin.
The teens have spent the past four weeks being put through the wringer. They built muscles in physical fitness routines, built critical thinking skills as they learned how to work a crime scene, and built an understanding and appreciation of how officers do their jobs.
For some, the message hit home.
“Some of the officers here really inspired me,’’ said Patrick Sweeney, 15, of North Cambridge, who now wants to be a police officer. “Coming into the camp . . . I thought that officers are grouchy. But now I know they are different - they are nicer.’’
But Abé Shuhag, another 15-year-old, is not swayed. When he was younger he thought about being a cop. But no more.
“It goes away - like being a cowboy, astronaut, and all that stuff,’’ he said, pausing. “Maybe. I don’t know . . . ’cause I’m not trying to get shot.’’
Copyright 2009 Boston Globe