Kids work with cops at police camp

Eighteen Petaluma area kids participated in Petaluma’s Junior Officer Police Camp at the Lucchesi Center this week. They got the chance to talk and ask questions with Police Chief Patrick Williams and other officers about everything from crime prevention to SWAT operations.|

There is something about getting the chance to look into a police squad car and see all the gadgets - the radio and computer and shotguns between the seats - that few kids can resist. Eighteen Petaluma area kids participated in Petaluma’s Junior Officer Police Camp at the Lucchesi Center this week. They got the chance to talk and ask questions with Police Chief Patrick Williams and other officers about everything from crime prevention to SWAT operations.

“Crime affects all of us,” said Chief Williams to the kids during the first day of the four day camp. “We have 62 police officers in a town of 60,000, so we want to get to know the community as much as we can, and we want you to get to know us.”

The four day free event was open to all kids from Petaluma between third and sixth grades. This is the 5th Junior Officer Police Camp. Led by Police dispatcher Heidi Borges, the children, five girls and 13 boys, hopped into squad cars, on police motorcycles, and even on a police dirt-bike. They learned about CSI finger printing and SWAT techniques. They got to meet a police dog and work through a crime scene.

They learned about command post procedures and laws like what drugs are illegal and what are medications. When they got on a police motorcycle, the officer teaching them about his work taught them how to get on the bike and what side of the bike to always get off when in traffic (the right-side, so you don’t get off the motorcycle into traffic).

The kids all got to wear gray T-shirts that identified them as “Petaluma Junior Police camp officers,” and after every demonstration, one could hear them exclaim “cool” and “awesome.”

“Our main purpose here is to teach the kids about our philosophy, which is leadership, teamwork and a winning attitude,” Borges said. “There will be another camp this summer in August for any kids interested.

For further information on the program, you can contact the Petaluma police department administration at 776-371.

(Contact E.A. Barrera at ernesto.barrera@arguscou rier.com.)

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