Law enforcement officers are sharing their duties and exper­tise with area children as part of this week’s 11th annual Junior Police Academy.

The activities began Monday at the Montgomery Police De­partment’s outdoor range on Old Hayneville Road and will continue throughout the week.

Participants in the academy are soon-to-be sixth-graders from the Weed and Seed area of west Montgomery.

During the weeklong camp, law enforcement officers from different departments will hold demonstrations, give speeches and offer their expertise to the children.

Activities will include traffic demonstrations, SWAT team demonstrations, tours of police headquarters, K9 training and much more for the 25 students from area schools.

Police Cpl. Denise Barnes said that many of the students involved in the camp already are somewhat familiar with the officers.

“Most of us are assigned to the Weed and Seed area, which is a high-crime area, but is still fairly small,” she said.

Twenty-five students can be a handful, but according to Barnes, the camp is always a fun time.

“This is my favorite time of year, when we get to do Junior Police Academy. I love it, and I think it gives a lot of these kids some positive reinforcement,” she said. “A lot of these kids are from the same schools also, so most of them already know each other.”

On Monday, the children noisily lined up in front of offi­cers holding protective gear, and one by one attempted to hold the weighty gear through fits of giggles.

Eleven-year-old Kiera Jar­rett said fingerprinting was among her favorite activities Monday.

“This definitely beats cheerleading camp!” Kiera said with a wide grin. “My mom told me to try something new this summer, and I’m really glad she did.”

Kiera noticed her fellow campers crowding around Cpl. D.M. Brown as he gave a police motorcycle demonstration, so she ran over to pose in the group picture that was being taken.

After the motorcycle demon­stration, the kids walked single file out on the lawn of the out­door range, where they awaited a SWAT raid demonstration, complete with flash bangs, si­rens and a cloth-dummy crimi­nal.

The kids cheered and holler­ed for different SWAT team members during the demonstra­tion, which ended with a group picture of the kids with the offi­cers in full SWAT garb.

“We always do some really fun things for the kids,” Barnes said.

At the end of the week, the kids will attend a graduation ceremony and be given T-shirts and plaques, she said.

Also this week, they’ll take a trip to the Montgomery Zoo, go to the theater to see “Shrek For­ever After,” and get a tour of the county courthouse, where they’ll participate in a mock trial, Barnes said.1