by ELDON KORSON
On Friday, Feb. 4, the Rockford, Cedar Springs and Sparta police departments and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department will be holding a youth lock-in at the MVP Athletic Club located at 515 East Division Street in Rockford. For $6 paid at the door, middle school kids in grades six through eight will be able to eat unlimited pizza and use all facilities, except exercise equipment, from 8:00 to 11:00 p.m.
According to Sergeant Mike Miller of the Rockford Police Department, open activities include “Dodgeball—officers against the kids—flag football… basketball, volleyball… all kinds of events that we do, and it’s pizza and an overall good time to hang out and get to know people.”
The deep-rooted fun in winning against adults—and authorities at that—is intended to decrease fear of speaking to officers and to encourage fun without drugs or other unhealthy acts. “We want to do it to get more involved with the middle school kids and have them interact more with different police officers more on a person-to-person basis, rather than dealing with them out on the street—just trying to get in there and interact and play,” said Miller.
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