COMMERCE CITY — Kaya Vigil-Keiper was bringing up the rear for her team as they crept through hallways of the Commerce City Recreation Center, pretending it was a building that was being occupied by a dangerous suspect.
“Slow down, stay in formation,” Kaya, 9, whispered to the three boys in her group who were leading the building search. They were participating in the first mini police camp program designed by Commerce City police and city recreation staff for middle-school kids. The boys fell in line and then the entire team sprinted through an open door to clear the room and complete the exercise.
For the last few years, the city’s Police Department and staff from recreation services have devised summertime programs that encourage Commerce City kids to spend time with and learn from police officers.
The various workshops and camps, mostly in the summer, were initially designed to help bridge a gap of trust and understanding between the cops and kids.
“It breaks down the barriers and allows us to be more effective in doing our jobs year round, and it also eliminated those trust issues that some of the youth may have with law enforcing in general,” said Commerce City Deputy Police Chief Lowell Richardson. “The reality is that by having these kinds of programs where law enforcement are interacting with kids, they start to realize that cops are people, too.”
The efforts to ramp up community engagement between police officers and Commerce City residents transcends all age groups, Richardson said. It’s part of a new directive within the department to establish a model of service and rapport with citizens and children who have not necessarily held the police in the highest regard.
“Increased youth engagement and community engagement aligns with our reform efforts in the Police Department to strive to meet the community’s expectations and engage them in all levels — residential, youth, schools, businesses,” Richardson said. “We can’t create a quality community from a public safety perspective if we don’t have those community partnerships on all levels.”
As part of that, the department is expanding and adding both summer and school-year seminars and camps to get close to the kids. And the city’s Recreation Department is facilitating.
“The police camps are very hands-on, active way to pique the interest of the kids and get them exited about getting to know the police officers and getting to interact with them to counter a lot of the negative things that they have heard about them,” said Lisa Nordholt, the city’s recreation supervisor for youth services. “There’s a lot of interest in career development and that’s why we have these camps that kids can progress through.”
The new mini police camp is a figurative “step one” for kids who are about 9 to 12 years old. There is also a regular police camp for teenagers, a brand new youth citizen police academy for career development, and the city’s Explorer program for those giving police work serious thought.
“What we’re hoping to generate out of this are some results where kids want to join our Explorer program at our Police Department,” Richardson said. “The youth citizen police academy was designed in response to that interest in career and also outreach to older kids.”
But any age group can be interested in police work, of course.
“I want to be a police officer and a gymnast when I’m older so that I can flip over fences during a chase,” Kaya said. “I would do this (mini police camp) a million times because it’s so fun and I learn everything I want to know.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or
Commerce City Police summer recreation programs:
Cops versus Kids: Kids ages 11 to 17 can see how they rank against the cops in free kickball. 4 p.m. June 12 at Stuart Middle School Baseball Field, 1955 E. 101st Way
Teen Night Around Town:
Teens ages 11 to 17 can enjoy a free outdoor party with music, inflatables, games, sports, and food.
Bike with a cop:
Kids ages 9 to 17 receive free safety information and equipment such as helmets. Rides begin at 9 a.m.
