SOUTHBRDIGE, Mass. - A six-week summer program for kids focuses on breaking down barriers between police officers and the community. 

The Southbridge Police Department’s “Cops 'n’ Kids” program is for at-risk children ages 11 to 16.  

Deputy Chief Jose Dingui says the program includes crime prevention classes, field trips, and swimming lessons. 

Dingui says after dealing with the pandemic, it's important for kids to enjoy their summer while still learning. He says it's also been a great recruiting tool.

"The program incorporates a lot of police officers that get to build relationships with the kids throughout the summer and this is important to our community. We’ve actually had the success of kids that actually worked in the program, to become staff in the program, to go off and return and be volunteers and then become police officers,” Dingui said. “So we’ve done the full circle a couple of times. So it’s been a great recruiting tool if anything and it’s awesome for the community to see that."

Dingui says they typically have about 150 kids in the program and still have space for a few more if anyone is interested in joining.