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Police camp designed to help kids who ‘need some sort of plan’

IMPD’s Gang Resistance Education and Training camp

News 8 at 5 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Keeping kids out of gangs is the purpose of an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department kids’ camp underway this week.

On Tuesday morning, Mayor Joe Hogsett and IMPD Chief Bryan Roach spent time with kids taking part in the department’s GREAT camp. GREAT stands for gang resistance education and training.

The goal of the camp is to provide a productive outlet for kids while fostering positive interactions with IMPD officers.

Roach said, “So many of our kids, especially at this young age, need some sort of plan. They need to be thinking through that. Hopefully, we’re adding to some of those things they’re getting at home or at school so that when they come to hard decisions or difficult choices, or who to choose as a friend, they remember their interaction that they had here at camp or they had here with an officer and think differently about those choices.” 

The GREAT Camp is organized by IMPD’s community engagement unit. It’s part of the city violence prevention efforts that include connecting kids with productive alternatives to crime and violence during the summer months. That includes jobs and job training through Project Indy as well as fun and educational programming at Indy Parks.