jrowe

When I was 12 years old, I went to a summer camp (a place I went to from 8 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday) at Allan Witt Aquatics Complex and that particular day, different dispatchers (like firemen, police officers, etc) came to teach us the importance of safety. Me and the remainder of the children were directed outside where we were shown the police car and firetruck. We were instructed to only look and walk around the outside of the vehicle, with anticipation we eagerly scrambled into a single file line. Once it came around to my turn, as I was toward the back of the line, one of the staff members, who had an issue with me, the reason still unknown to this day, shoved me into the cop car and closed the door. As a result, I climbed through the middle and tried to exit through the front door on the driver’s side. Upon exiting, the officer saw me and drew his gun, yelling at me to get out of his car and put my hands in the air. The gun remained drawn, pointed directly at me for several minutes, with numerous younger kids watching. After the incident, none of the staff present did anything or comforted me, I didn’t tell anyone the full story until a couple of months afterward. That instance, unfortunately one of several, has shaped how I view the world and thought that it‚and be a good example to bring more awareness; especially coming across it at such a young age.