Bedford’s annual ‘Cop Camp’ a big hit

The percussive force of a bomb exploding at the end of a field behind Bedford Middle School shocked some of the children watching.

Participants in Bedford’s annual Cop Camp, they watched as Virginia State Police officers detonated charges — in a shoe, a metal can and even on a packaged pig’s foot. The intent is to show how destructive these items are, and what kids should do if they find an explosive.

Wednesday’s exercise illustrates a key part of Cop Camp: Wow, with a lesson.

This year, 128 children from Bedford County, Bedford City, Lynchburg and Roanoke are participating in the five-day camp. Another 50 kids were on a waiting list. Cop Camp, in its sixth year, is open to children ages 9 to 15. There is no charge.

The camp is designed to give the children positive interactions with police officers and teach them how to resist drugs and gangs, said Officer Robert Monk of the Bedford Police Department.

“They are the eyes and the ears of our communities,” he said. “A lot of kids are scared of law enforcement. We want to bridge that relationship so these kids can feel like they can come talk to us.”

The camp lets students also learn about what police officers do. Like how to lift fingerprints from a crime scene, or how a K-9 officer works with his dog. Cop Camp also shows how police, fire and rescue work together, like the demonstration of how firefighters cut into a car to rescue a trapped victim.

There’s also a physical component, where the children go through ropes courses and the obstacle course that police recruits have to pass before getting a job offer.

The camp, which began Monday, culminates Friday with a cookout and graduation ceremony at Liberty Lake Park. Bedford Police Chief Jim Day and Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown will be there to talk to the children.

Cop Camp is a joint effort between the Bedford City Police Department, the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office and the Bedford Parks and Recreation Department. The Rocky Mount Police Department and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office participated in the program this year because they are planning to start their own Cop Camp.

“It’s one of the best programs that parks and recreation has,” said Becky Aud, of the parks and recreation department. “It’s one of the most highly attended programs we offer … It’s a really good program with a really good idea behind it.”

Monk said the camp is not advertised. The registration dates are posted in the schools, but he said most of the students hear about the camp from their classmates.

“We’re learning what can happen in real life and how one thing can lead to the other,” said 8-year-old Delaney Parker. “Things can be bad and we don’t want to do bad.

“I’ve never seen so many cops in my life. It’s cool.”