CHILDREN from the various police divisions and scout groupings gathered on Sunday at the Police Sports Club Ground in Eve Leary, Georgetown before making their way to Kuru-Kuru on the Soesdyke/Linden Highway, where the 2014 Police Camp is being held.

The camp is being headed by Senior Superintendent Maxine Graham, the acting coordinator. Speaking with this publication at the camp site, Graham said this year’s camp will feature lots of outdoor activities which will

engage the brain.

She said it is not entirely fair for children to be locked in classrooms all year round, and when out on camping are bombarded with too many theoretical exercises.

However, she disclosed, the camp will not stop or fall short of instilling some amount of police values in the young minds. Among those values would be the importance of staying on the right side of the law, sessions on child care and protection, domestic violence, and other topical issues.

Whilst the camp falls under the umbrella of the Guyana Police Force, it is really the Guyana Women Police Association, an arm of the Police Force, that is actually dealing with the logistics, and which would have taken the camp in hand this year.

The camp has received the full blessing of Police Commissioner (ag) Seelall Persaud, and his deputy, Assistant Commissioner Balram Persaud, besides divisional commanders.

On Saturday, the police travelled to the camp site and made the preparations for the commencement of the camp, which would have seen the children arriving all at once on Sunday.

Coordinator Graham and her senior and support staff of the camp took the groceries, mattresses and other necessities to the camp site, and had those in place awaiting the arrival of the children.

The camp has more than thirty supervisors and an undisclosed amount of security officers, which was not mentioned for security reasons.

Following the site preparation on Saturday, the team returned to the city and welcomed the children at the Police Sports Club Ground.

The lists of supervisors, children and other support staff were checked off against an already prepared and vetted list before Commander Hicken and Deputy Commander of Operations, Linden Alves, saw the children off in almost a dozen vehicles under police escort.

Upon arrival at the camp site, the children were again checked against the prepared list, and were quickly settled into their various dorms, along with the dorm leaders and camp supervisors. From the time the children entered the compound of the camping site, the security at the location was beefed up, and persons entering and leaving the premises were required to leave their names with the police; while vehicle numbers were taken whenever those entered or left the premises.

While the children coming from the various locations will be camping out in dorms, the scouts will be camping in their tents outdoors in a semi-jungle-like arrangement.

The scouts are known for exploring and engaging in challenging activities, including survival challenges.

At the conclusion of police camps, children and others who would have performed exceptionally are rewarded by the Force and are encouraged to keep the standards up.

The Guyana Police Force Camp 2014 is being held under the theme “Empowering Youth through Social Partnership and Team Building for a Better Guyana.”

(By Leroy Smith)