With sirens blaring and lights flashing, Lt. Andy Hatcher’s hands are a blur as he turns the steering wheel on his Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Department unit first left and then right.

    Hatcher is giving a ride through an obstacle course in the parking lot of the Meridian Community College Training Facility at the old Wal-Mart located on Highway 19 North Friday to kids in the Junior Law Enforcement Academy. The children, ranging in ages from 6 years old to 12, are having a blast as Hatcher and LCSD Deputy Chris McFarland, take the youngsters through the course. Mimicking a real pursuit chase, the young boys like Liam Gilbert and Leo Winford enjoy a front seat experience they will not soon forget.

    “It was fast and fun,” said Winford, 11, flashing a huge grin. “The lights and the siren were really neat.”

    LCSD Deputy Ricardo Clayton, who is the coordinator for the program that for the past week has been part of MCC’s annual College for Kids Program, said the past seven days have been filled with information pertaining to law enforcement procedures and tactics so the kids can appreciate the extent the men and women in uniform go in order to protect them.

    “We covered a wide variety of things pertaining to law enforcement and the kids just have eaten it up,” Clayton said. “We also wanted to show them the career opportunities associated with law enforcement.”

    The kids were able to actually take fingerprints off objects just like the investigators. They were introduced to members of the Lauderdale County Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit and given up close instruction on some of the tactics used by the team. But none of it may have been as much fun as riding along with Hatcher and McFarland.

    “I really liked the Charger,” said 6-year-old Gilbert, his eyes still wide after climbing out of the patrol unit. “I’ve ridden in a patrol car before but it wasn’t a Charger. That one can fly.”