Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Valdosta Police Program Aims To Keep Kids Away From Drugs

The Valdosta, Georgia Police HQ
Valdosta Police Department
The Valdosta, Georgia Police HQ
The Valdosta, Georgia Police HQ
Credit Valdosta Police Department
The Valdosta, Georgia Police HQ

For more than 20 years the Valdosta Police Department has taken a week out of the summer teach kids about avoiding drugs.

Officer Randall Hancock, heads the program. He says with no school during the summer, it’s a great alternative for kids.

“We mentor them on abstinence from drugs, etiquette, good manners, nutrition. Just a whole myriad of things. It’s a very structured program and the kids absolutely love it. The proof’s in the pudding. When you have 12 children asking if they can come back next year you know you’re doing something right.”

Hancock says the goal is giving kids who have nothing to do over the summer an opportunity to make a lasting change in their lives.

Copyright 2018 WFSU

Noah Hertz is an award-winning reporter focusing on St. Johns County. Noah got his start reporting in Tallahassee and in Wakulla County, covering local government and community issues. He went on to work for three years as a general assignment reporter and editor for The West Volusia Beacon in his Central Florida hometown of DeLand, where he helped the Beacon take home awards from the Florida Press Association.