BEAUFORT, S.C. () — Over a dozen kids and teens are spending their week with the Beaufort Police Department (BPD) for their Future Guardians summer camp.

Campers are learning the roles and responsibilities of what it takes to be an officer to hopefully inspire them to join the force in the future.

It’s not always pulling someone over for a traffic stop or chasing a criminal. Beaufort Police Chief Stephenie Price said that there’s more to being an officer.

“It’s really important that our youth know that we’re more than just a badge, we’re more than somebody just in patrol car,” said Price. “We’re people, we’re mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, you know, grandparents in certain cases, and we just want them to know that we are here to help and keep their community safe.”

Through the Future Guardians camp, 22 kids, over double the amount from last year, are learning who the officers are and what their day-to-day looks like.

“We kind of just want to plant those seeds early on,” said officer Matthew Williams. “It gives all the kids a unique opportunity to really dive in and ask questions and get a look out about what the police actually do.”

The weeklong camp allows the kids to peak behind the scenes.

The first day is filled with introductions and a tour of the department, city hall and Beaufort County’s 911 Dispatch Center. They will also participate in CPR and First Aid training and become certified.

Day two will be filled with a full investigation.  

“They’re actually going to be given a crime scene, and they’re split up into groups and then they’re going to solve that crime scene, collect evidence, take pictures, do a sketch and come up with their own suspects,” said Willaims. “Then they’re going to present to a court on why they think this is the suspect.”

Day three is community day, where they’ll learn about life skills through a workshop presented by TCL’s Sam Aker. That will follow with a movie and group reflection event.

On the last day they will learn about traffic stops and how to write a ticket. They will get a tour of the patrol cars and an equipment demonstration with gear try on, followed by a K-9-unit visit.

The kids are even getting to take part in a live patrol scenario and the department’s law enforcement simulator.

“This is all about bridging those gaps, building relationships to say, ‘hey, these are cool people to hang out with, they’re fun and this might be an interesting career for them to get into’ so they can thrive in the community as well,” said Williams.

Chief Price said with the jump in the number of kids from last year to this year, she has high hopes that the camp will only continue to grow. But her biggest hope is that a couple of years down the line, she’ll see some familiar faces officially joining the force.