Bowling Green Junior Police Academy held to teach kids about policing

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Bowling Green Police Department has a large focus on community policing, which often entails the police officers coming out into the community to get to know the residents, but this week, they have been hosting some of the smaller members of the community at the department.

The Bowling Green Junior Police Academy is held once a year and came to a close Friday with around two dozen children ages 10 to 13 in attendance.

The camp allowed kids to take a tour of the Warren County Regional Jail, the Warren County Justice Center, try out drunk goggles and meet the K9’s, according to Officer Patrick Donoghue.

“It’s a positive interaction. It’s a way for us to give back and to engage with these kids because some of these kids, they may not know a lot about the police or they may be scared of the police because they’ve got that family member that says, ‘if you don’t do this that police officer over there is going to arrest you.’ Well, we’re not the bad guys and so we want them to see that we’re here in a good supportive role, in a positive manner. They get to learn and ask a ton of questions. That’s one of the biggest things this week is they get to ask a ton of questions and it’s great. So, we get to kind of fulfill that curiosity, that interest,”

Karis Carter, a student in attendance, says all kids should want to come out and join next year because she had a great time.

“It is very fun. It’s very informative. You get to see a lot of things that normally you wouldn’t be able to see if you just walked into the police station and you get a really in-depth perspective of it all,” said Karis.

She said she was a little bit disappointed that she couldn’t pet the K9’s but loved to see them do tricks.

The kids also got to take part in a mock trial.

Karis was the defense attorney.

The camp will happen again next year, but registration has not yet opened for it.

To register, contact the Bowling Green Police in April of 2022.