Applications are now open for Police Camp 2025, taking place at St. Margaret’s School, Victoria, BC from March 15-22, 2025. This unique, week-long program over spring break is open to all Grades 10-12 students in School Districts 60, 61 and 62. Thanks to the generosity of GVPF donors, including the RBC Foundation and the KPMG Foundation, there are no fees for participants.
Police Camp is designed to be fun and build tangible life skills for participants such as: time management, setting priorities, reacting to stressful situations, practicing empathetic listening and honing emotional intelligence abilities, public speaking, providing and receiving constructive feedback, record and note keeping, report writing and more. These skills utilize the expertise of volunteer police officers with special skills in interviewing, investigations, operations, logistics, human resources and training.
The days start early and end late and include physical activity, teamwork, drill, parade and activities such as learning observation and situational awareness skills, patrolling in teams, and group based projects. The outside learning portion also includes simple drills and team-based games, alongside discussions about the importance of physical literacy, healthy eating habits and physical self-care.
More than 30 police officers from Victoria and Esquimalt, Oak Bay, Saanich and Central Saanich participate in Police Camp, including 15 officers/team leads who stay overnight for the duration of camp.