Kids have lots of fun at DCSO’s Deputy Day Camp

Kids had a chance to learn how to be Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies, with a lot of fun activities on Tuesday in Bend.

Sheriff Shane Nelson said he saw more people at this year’s Deputy Day Camp than last year’s inaugural event.

The kids got to try on SWAT gear, saw a K-9 team in action, learned how to take fingerprints from a glass and how to shoot targets with a water gun, and also learned the basics of patrolling — and even got to use the sirens.

“I got to go over there and pull someone over, and one of the sheriffs I had was a great teacher teaching us that,” said one excited “deputy-in-training.”

The sheriff himself was walking around, assessing the prospects.

“I’m the recruiter,” Nelson said. “I walk around, and I’m looking for all that young talent. Everyone that I’ve seen here today is a future deputy sheriff, when they turn 21.”

There were morning and afternoon sessions, and kids who finished the circuit were named “junior deputy sheriffs.”