When Haidyn Gadd decided to take part in the Youth Employment Services (YES) program, she originally hoped to work with her mother, Sara Gillen, owner of Drive Thru Brew. She didn’t expect she would enjoy spending eight weeks working with police.

“I have been able to shadow the police officers and see the different aspects of their jobs,” Gadd explained. “It’s been interesting. I’ve learned a lot.”

The YES program is open to youth from ages 14 to 24 and ran from June 16 to Aug. 8, providing paid work experience and skill-building opportunities.

Gadd was one of six Wrangell youth who participated this year, down from 19 last year. The Sentinel was unable to reach anyone with the Tlingit and Haida YES program to confirm why the lower participation or where the other youth worked in Wrangell this year.

Wrangell Police Chief Gene Meek said Gadd was exposed to all facets of local law enforcement during her summer employment.

“It’s not just shadowing officers. It’s also working with dispatch and corrections officers and seeing how local law enforcement works from multiple angles,” he said. “We have also talked about the different legal aspects of certain things that officers should know, and that has allowed her to see why certain decisions get made by officers.”

Gadd, who is getting ready to start her junior year in high school, said she hadn’t ever considered a law enforcement career.

“I don’t think I could be a police officer,” she said. “I was always interested in psychology, and I used to be mostly focused on becoming a counselor. But now I’m seeing how psychologists work with law enforcement and understanding people and crime. I think I might like that.”

Meek and Gadd recalled a recent trip to the airport where Gadd was encouraged to closely watch non-verbal communications from people to discern suspicious activity.

“There was one guy that wouldn’t look us in the eyes and he looked suspicious,” Gadd said. “He went in the bathroom real quick and he didn’t stay in there long enough to do anything. That was suspicious.”

Nothing came of the suspicious behavior with that person, but Gadd and Meek both consider the experience to be educational.

The chief said he would like to find a way to involve more high school students, to familiarize them with the day-to-day operations of local law enforcement.

“I would like to get a different intern from the high school each year,” he said. “I would like to set up some kind of on-the-job training thing for students. There has been a missing level of engagement between local kids and the police. We want to make sure that they know they can be comfortable with us and not have any anxiety if they ever need to deal with us.”

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska operates the YES program in Southeast, with students earning $15 an hour for the eight-week program.

Gadd said one of the biggest takeaways was her experience with the officers.

“I didn’t realize how friendly they would be,” she said. “I was intimidated at first, but they have all been easy to talk to and work with.”

Her least favorite aspect? “I hate talking on the phone,” she said. “I answered a few calls for dispatch and I just didn’t like the experience very much.”

The YES program ended Aug. 8, and Gadd said she is happy she had the experience.