Goochland sheriff’s office hosts sixth annual Jr. Deputy Camp

Goochland County families got a hands-on summer public-safety program at Goochland Elementary School, where the sheriff’s office opened its sixth annual Jr. Deputy Camp for children ages 7 to 11. The camp was built around a simple premise with practical value: let young residents see what local law enforcement does every day, and make the county’s public-safety network more familiar before children ever need it in an emergency.

The camp ran at 2000 Bulldog Way in Goochland, with hours listed as 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. The event listing said registration was closed and showed 44 guests, signaling steady demand for a program that has become part of the county’s summer calendar.

Inside the camp, children were set to see patrol cars, equipment and the technology deputies use in the field. The sheriff’s office also invited Goochland Fire and Rescue, Goochland Animal Protection and the Virginia State Police, turning the week into a live lesson in how multiple agencies work together during calls, accidents and other emergencies. That broader mix matters in Goochland, where county public-safety pages group the sheriff’s office with Animal Protection, Fire-Rescue and Emergency Services, and Emergency Management.

The sheriff’s office has said community outreach plays a critical role in effective policing, and its community programs page places Junior Deputy Camp alongside Citizens’ Academy, D.A.R.E., Fraud Prevention, Identity Theft Protection and Teen Driver Seminar. County economic-development material says the sheriff’s office is the primary law-enforcement agency in Goochland County, and that communications officers supervise the enhanced 911 system while dispatching calls for sheriff, state police, fire and rescue, animal control and conservation police. It also says deputies investigate more than 95% of criminal complaints in the county.

The camp’s recurring format showed that Goochland treats youth outreach as more than a one-off event. A 2023 sheriff’s office post described a Junior Deputy Camp with first responder demonstrations and a State Police helicopter appearance, reinforcing the same hands-on approach seen this year. With public safety repeatedly identified by the county as central to quality of life, the camp functioned as both a summer program and an early civic lesson in how Goochland’s emergency system works.