Behind the Badge
Kids from low-income families in Anaheim rarely, if ever, will experience the sights, sounds and smells of the wilderness.
The Anaheim Police Department’s Cops 4 Kids (C4K) program makes sure they get to relish the experience.
For close to 20 years, C4K and the Anaheim YMCA have taken a group of disadvantaged youngsters to a rustic setting as part of the Kids on Public Land program.
The most recent trip involved two day-long excursions to Camp Conrad-Chinnock in the San Bernardino Mountains. Boys went on Sept. 17 and girls went on Sept. 18, said APD’s Georgina Ruiz, who oversees the C4K program.
Two Anaheim boys pose with a participant at Camp Conrad-Chinnock in the San Bernardino Mountains. APD photo
The kids went on hikes, panned for gold, rode a 4 X 4 through the forest and got to meet some furry forest creatures.
“The kids loved it,” Ruiz said.
A police K9 also made the trip and did a demonstration for the kids, Ruiz said.
C4K is the APD’s nonprofit that aims, through a variety of programs, to foster a positive relationship between youngsters ages 5 to 17, the police and the community.
The idea is to offer cultural, recreational and educational alternatives to drugs, gangs and other criminal activity.
Activities such as the trip to Camp Conrad-Chinock also give children a chance to interact with police officers outside of law enforcement environment, Ruiz said.
“Kids get to see the officers as regular people,” she said.
APD photo
