Home » Home » WATCH: Cocoa Police Collaborates with Ties That Bind on ‘Cops and Kids’ Summer Program

WATCH: Cocoa Police Collaborates with Ties That Bind on ‘Cops and Kids’ Summer Program

By  //  April 1, 2021

Summer Camp program will begin in early June

ABOVE VIDEO: The Cocoa Police Department will collaborate with Ties That Bind during the “Cops and Kids” Summer Program.

BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA, FLORIDA – The Cocoa Police Department will collaborate with Ties That Bind during the “Cops and Kids” Summer Program.

Sometimes, playing games at work is a good thing. Especially when the games have built-in strategies to help participants learn specific skills, such as team building, confidence building, improving communication, and recognizing opportunities to teach and learn positive life skills.

Earlier this month, Cocoa Police Department employees, including four police officers, spent a day participating in such games in order to prepare for the annual Cops and Kids Summer Camp program which is planned to begin in early June.

The Community Resource Unit, through its ongoing partnership with Lifetime Counseling Center in Cocoa, solicited the assistance of Ties that Bind, a Central Florida-based organization specializing in challenge course experiences that promote team building. (CPD image)

The Community Resource Unit, through its ongoing partnership with Lifetime Counseling Center in Cocoa, solicited the assistance of Ties that Bind, a Central Florida-based organization specializing in challenge course experiences that promote team building.

“We’ve been working with Cops and Kids for many years,” said Steve Baggett, co-owner of Ties that Bind Inc.

“The games are teaching how to communicate effectively, and it’s not just about communicating it’s about understanding and getting your point across. All the activities that we do build them in a sequence to get them to be effective communicators and problem solvers.”

Among the participants in the daylong exercises was School Resource Officer Salvatore Fogu who will serve as a camp counselor for the 2021 Cops and Kids program. (CPD image)

Among the participants in the daylong exercises was School Resource Officer Salvatore Fogu who will serve as a camp counselor for the 2021 Cops and Kids program.

“A lot of these kids, when school is over they don’t have a lot to look forward to,” Fogu said.

“If we can hold activities, build more of a rapport with the community and bring these kids out to have fun and at the same time you’re building a stronger kid, a smarter kid, keeping them off the streets and out trouble, bring them to an environment where they can have fun and build a rapport with the police officers and the community; It’s hard to say no to that.”

The Cocoa Police Department began the Cops and Kids Summer Program in 2006. Its mission is to create positive interactions between young people and police officers.

It also provides opportunities for children to experience unique activities in and around the local community. (CPD image)

It also provides opportunities for children to experience unique activities in and around the local community.

In 2019, the department partnered with Lifetime Counseling Center to embed mental health counselors into the camp to work with the children.

The partnership was made possible through a grant from the Space Coast Health Foundation.

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