Some local students spent the week with officers from the St. Joseph Police Department practicing basketball skills, learning bike safety and more. 

The St. Joseph Police Department Cops Care Youth Camp was held this week for students ages nine to 12. 

St. Joseph Police Department School Resources Officer Joe Herrera said the camp includes basketball, volleyball, kickball and more.

“We also have our department come out with the K9, bike patrol, doing safety things for the kids,” Herrera said. “A lot of kids ride their bike and a lot of them don’t know the safety points when they’re out there on the street, so our bike patrol… helps out with that, teaching the kids about bike safety.” 

Kade is going into 7th grade at Truman Middle School and said it was his first year attending the camp. 

“This camp is really really fun and they teach you stuff like basketball and they’re teaching you how to ride a bike and doing obstacles with a bike,” Kade said. “It’s cool.” 

Remi will start 6th grade this school year and Jordan will be going into 7th grade. Both attended the camp last year and said they enjoy playing basketball all week and learning from the officers. 

“I like it because it’s not like a normal coach, it’s kind of like they’re learning while you’re learning too,” Remi said. 

“It’s really fun because they’re like cops and coaches so it’s just really cool,” Jordan said. 

Herrera said he enjoys seeing the students make new friends, gain confidence through playing sports and getting to interact with officers during the week. 

“I think a lot of kids see us in a different light just because of social media, you know they see the police in a negative way,” Herrera said. “But they get to see us here, out of uniform, that we’re just like them… here, everybody’s in the same clothes, same shirts and they don’t see us just as police officers, they see us as one of them.”