JPA: A Brief History

My father and I started small. We wanted to created a program that gave 7th graders the opportunity to befriend a police officer. My dad was a retired police officer and he has a knack for working with kids.

It was 1992, and back then police officers were expected to deliver an anti-drug message or some version of scared-straight.

The Junior Police Academy was different. It was to be about forging friendships and reminding young people justice is their responsibility too.

From those humble beginnings, JPA took on the life of its own. The program has since spread across the country, one extraordinary police officer at a time.

Photographing these fresh and hopeful faces over the years has kept the program as vital to me as it was 28 years ago.