Seventy-four kids from throughout Harrison County are getting a behind-the-scenes look at law enforcement.
The annual FOP Junior Police Academy takes place at Bridgeport Middle School Monday through Friday.
Bridgeport Police Officer Jamie Hamrick and her fellow PROs (Prevention Resource Officers) are heading up the instructional camp where the young participants – fourth through eighth graders – will cover a wide realm of police skills and tactics.
“Right now, we’re learning about gun safety and we have a guest instructor. Later on today, we’ll be putting our skills to the test,” Hamrick said. “We have crime scene investigation on tap for tomorrow and later into the week we’ll have visits from the fire department and SWAT Team and many other things.”
Tuesday will also feature a community service project: A car wash, free to members of the public.
“We’ll be in front of BMS and people can just pull up into the parking lot and get their car washed for free,” Hamrick said.
The car wash takes place 1:30-3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Wednesday afternoon will include a reward trip to Bridgeport Pool for some fun in the sun and on Friday, police camp participants will graduate from the program, receiving certificates at a ceremony at BMS.
Hamrick said annually there is avid interest in the camp.
“We have a lot of kids participate then tell their friends how much fun they had and how much they learned,” she said. “We have kids return three, four or five years. We do a lot of the same things each year, but we also switch it up each time.”
From a law enforcement perspective, Hamrick said she, her PRO counterparts and other members of law enforcement get to meet the kids one on one and tach them why certain police duties are important.
“We show them a little bit about how we go about our training,” Hamrick said. “And for the future, we hope to have some future police officers heading our way.”
Editor's Note: Pictures were taken during the 2018 FOP Junior Police Academy. Photos of this year's event are forthcoming on Connect-Bridgeport.
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