Participants in the second session of the Sachse Police Department’s Cops n’ Campers program enjoy a week of learning, fun and friendship with local officers. Courtesy photo

For three weeks each summer, police cars, emergency equipment and hands-on demonstrations become the backdrop for building friendships between officers and local children.

The third session of the Sachse Police Department’s annual Cops and Campers program wrapped up last week, giving students entering third through sixth grades an inside look at public safety while fostering trust, teamwork and positive relationships with law enforcement.

Throughout the week, campers explored police equipment, learned about specialized law enforcement operations and met members of the Sachse Police Department’s Special Response and Crisis Negotiator teams. They also heard presentations from Sachse Fire-Rescue, the Wylie Police Department and Lone Star Search and Rescue, offering a broader look at the many agencies that work together to protect the community.

Each of the program’s three summer sessions welcomes an average of 35 to 40 students and is overseen by Sgt. Brent Merryman, with Sachse’s elementary and middle school School Resource Officers leading daily activities. Volunteers in Police Service also assist throughout the program.

Students also participate in warm-ups, team-building games, fingerprinting, impaired-vision exercises using special goggles and a traffic-stop demonstration. The department said the impaired-goggles activity and traffic-stop demonstration continue to rank among the campers’ favorite experiences each year.

“Cops & Campers provides a valuable opportunity for our officers to connect with our youth outside their traditional law-enforcement duties,” Merryman said. “The program helps build trust and strengthen relationships between students and public safety.”

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