El Paso Police donating old, decommissioned police cars to high schools for training

EL PASO, Texas -- Some El Paso area schools will receive decommissioned police vehicles from the El Paso Police Department. The cars will be used for law enforcement training programs and will offer students a chance to gain exposure to "real-world" scenarios.

El Paso City Council District 7 Rep. Henry Rivera passed the item at City Council last month. The vehicles will not be registered to be used on public roads, they will be secured, and only instructors and school administration will have access to the keys.

A decommissioned vehicle will help the students at both schools by training them in the area of "Traffic Stops" and would expose students with applications that Police Officers encounter on a daily basis through different simulated
scenarios.

"They're given a classroom scenario and instructed by the instructor, the teacher," Rivera said, "and so then they apply it and they're actually graded on it."

The police department also hopes to benefit from the program, by encouraging more students to enter law enforcement fields.

Rep. Rivera said the goal is to provide units to all schools that offer law enforcement programs. Two schools have requested them so far.

"I think it enriches their overall learning," said Miguel Vega, a law enforcement teacher at Austin High School, "I think they would master the content, when it comes to felony traffic stops, traffic stops, or for any other content we're covering."