INDIANAPOLIS — Even though schools are out for the summer, kids at Holy Angels Catholic School are getting a lesson on violence prevention from IMPD.
"We teach them to avoid violence, stay away from crime and stay away from drugs," Officer Marilyn Gurnell said.
This is all through IMPD's G.R.E.A.T. Camp, which stands for gang resistance education and training.
"While we do have gangs in our city, we don't focus on their names and what they do, but we do tell them to avoid the gangs," Gurnell said.
Organizers say, through this two-week program, IMPD officers will talk with kids about violence in the city. Through different activities, kids will learn how to stay away from gangs, violence and build relationships with their peers.
Over the years, organizers said kids have come back to the program and talked with the new students about the impacts they can make.
"It's so important because we can't reach every student or every kid in the neighborhood, but these kids run across each other on a daily basis," Commander Ida Williams said.
While the program has been around for 25 years, organizers said they've had to adjust because of the recent rise of youth violence in the city. But they hope when kids leave, they'll make an impact in their community.
The first week of G.R.E.A.T. Camp is for fourth and fifth graders, and then will switch to middle schoolers the following week.