By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

Arissa Vineyard, 12, of Goshen properly carries an inoperable police training weapon as she checks a classroom for "suspects" under the watchful eye of Clermont County Sheriff's Cpl. Gary West. The Enquirer/GLENN HARTONG

GOSHEN TOWNSHIP - Fourteen-year-old Jessica Watson slowly peered around the door into an empty classroom at Goshen Middle School Thursday.

When she was ready, the high school freshman entered and scanned the room while pointing an orange plastic gun.

"It seems like a little-kid game right now," she said with a laugh.

This wasn't a summer game of cops and robbers, though, but part of the Clermont County Sheriff's Office Junior Police Academy.

The teen-oriented program, the first of its kind locally, is part of a national organization aimed at law enforcement education.

"We've noticed a change from Monday morning (when the academy started) to right now in all of these kids," said Geoffrey Hultgren, a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer with the Clermont County Sheriff's Office. "They get an understanding of what we do and why we do it. They get an overall view of public service."

Simon Criddle, 14, also saw a change in himself.

"Everybody's saying police are such bad people, but you come here and they're doing everything they possibly can to help us," he said. "They're a lot nicer than everybody says they are."

Days at the free weeklong camp, paid for with grants and local business donations, start at 8 a.m. with physical training led by a member of the armed forces.

Goshen Township Officer James Taylor created the first Junior Police Academy program in Ohio in 2001 for Goshen Middle School and expanded the program this year into four summer sessions. The camp is a joint effort among the Clermont County Sheriff's Office, Goshen Township police, the Miami Township police, and the Boys and Girls Club of New Richmond.

Earlier in the week, the students were asked to solve a murder investigation, complete with bloodied dummies in the school's cafeteria, after crime scene investigators visited the camp.

"I think they enjoy it more than I even thought," Taylor said.

Like her father, a Union Township police officer, Holli Puckett, 18, wants to join the force.

"I knew this would be a great opportunity to get to learn stuff that I normally wouldn't get to see," she said.

The Junior Police Academy will be held:

• July 5-9 at Goshen Middle School

• July 12-16 at the New Richmond Boys and Girls Club

• July 19-23 at the New Richmond Boys and Girls Club

For more information or to sign up for the free program call Officer James Taylor at 722-3200 or Lt. Randy Harvey at 732-7536. The course is open to teens ages 13-18.

E-mail pschaible@hotmail.com