Denver Police Department hosts basketball camp

More than 100 children from around the Denver community gathered on the Metro State University of Denver campus for a basketball clinic hosted, in part, by Denver Police and Gold Crown Foundation. 

"It has been advertised as a basketball camp, but it is really much more than a basketball camp," said Interim Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas.  

Former Denver Nuggets player Bill Hanzlik, co-founder of Gold Crown Foundation, said he was thrilled to once again host the basketball event at MSU as a way to expose more children to basketball while also introducing them to law enforcement officers they can look up to. 

"We are doing skills with dribbling, passing and shooting during the clinic," Hanzlik said. 

With several Denver Police officers at the basketball clinic working alongside MSU basketball players, Hanzlik said he hoped the children would grow more comfortable with police.  

"Cops are good guys. They want to help you, and they want to support you," Hanzlik said.

Interim Chief Thomas said the event was open for all, but specifically targeted building relationships with children from diverse backgrounds. 

"We really wanted to target our minority population and the underserved community," Thomas said. "Those are the individuals we most need to connect with."

Denver Nuggets Super Mascot Rocky also made an appearance at the event as a surprise guest.