GULF SHORES, Ala. — Police Chief Edward Delmore got a slight twinkle in his bright blue eyes as he recalled a time long ago in his hometown.

“Well over 30 years ago, where I grew up in Fairview Heights, Ill.,” he said.

Already in the Police Explorer program in Fairview Heights, he was happy at the chance to participate in the department’s Youth Academy.

“The first year they had a Youth Academy, I was in that first class in 1976,” he said. “Later I went back to that department after being away from the city for 25 years, returned as the police chief and that Youth Academy was still going on.”

Come July 29 in Gulf Shores, the department he heads up now will have its initial Youth Academy, a weeklong day camp at Gulf Shores High School. Delmore charged Community Relations Officer Josh Coleman with making the first Gulf Shores Youth Academy happen.

“We thought that would be a wonderful thing to do in Gulf Shores and so we’re doing one here as well,” Delmore said.

The two programs were kind of a springboard for Delmore into a lifelong career of law enforcement.

“I got hooked on the show Adam-12 as a kid and became a Police Explorer Scout which is another program we have here in Gulf Shores now,” he said. “While I was already a Police Explorer I went to the Youth Academy so it all fit in well. There are a lot of kids who go to that Youth Academy and eventually do become law enforcement officers.”

And a lot do not, Delmore said, but they come away with a good experience and a little more understanding of how law enforcement, and law enforcement officers, work.

“It gives them the ability to see us in a different light, too and that’s always a good thing,” he said. “They get a feel for what it’s about. It’s under the law enforcement umbrella, but there’s a lot about leadership and character and physical fitness and things like that.

“Many others who have been in it have gone on to careers in the military or in business or even medicine in some cases. There’s a wide variety things. It’s more about citizenship than it is purely about law enforcement although obviously there’s a law enforcement emphasis in it.”

Boys and girls ages 12 to 15 are eligible for the camp and it can accommodate 20 slots at $35 apiece for the weeklong classes and activities. Programs run from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. For more information call 251-968-2431.

“We have 14 slots left,” Coleman said. “We want to get those last slots filled out. When I put it out on Facebook, I put it out on a Thursday and by the next Tuesday I had my first five applicants.

“Participants will learn about crime prevention, CPR and firearm safety as well as activities to build physical fitness, confidence and leadership skills.”

Delmore says this also a good activity to keep kids busy during the summer.

“Parents are always looking for positive things for kids to,” he said.