The NYPD kicked off training for 316 youth coordination officers Monday while announcing that it would, for the first time ever, have juveniles working as summer interns at each of its precinct stationhouses.

“There’s lots of plans to connect our police officers to kids,” said Chauncey Parker, the NYPD’s new deputy commissioner for community partnerships. “One of the key opportunities are a lot of summer internships that exist all over the city. But within the police department for the first time we’re going to have summer interns at each precinct with a record number of kids, working with the police side by side across New York City.”

Parker, who said 350 kids would be interns across the city, was speaking to a room of new youth coordination officers at the police academy. It was the first day of a two-week training course for the new program. Each of them applied and was accepted, he said.

“In particular, they were hand-picked,” Parker said. “So, it wasn’t taking an existing position and saying, ‘Now your job is this,’ so it starts with people who have applied for the job, interviewed for the job and have been selected for the job.”

He said the cops will be working in precincts across the city and will be expected to do “everything they can to protect and serve all kids in New York City, and that is through connecting kids to great community programs and resources, whether it’s after-school programs.”

“But when kids do get involved in crime, there have got to be consequences,” Parker said. “We also have to make sure that there are the most effective consequences.”

Commissioner Dermot Shea addressed some “disturbing” recent crimes involving kids, including a group of teens who were arrested after delivering a beating to a 15-year-old girl Thursday and stealing her Air Jordans.

“We’ve seen some disturbing things in the last couple of days,” Shea said. “We are at a very interesting time, probably a unique time. Stop some of these arrests. Perfect? Far from it. But, we’ve done a damn good job.”