Rather than hand out tickets, officers in Denton went car to car Friday handing out flowers and a message of goodwill.
Officers from the Denton Police Department, Denton County Sheriff’s Office and some local Constable’s officers posted up at the Denton School District’s middle schools at the end of the day to pass out a Valentine’s Day flower to each parent picking up their kids.
The surprise for the parents is part of a local program aimed at Denton’s youth called Kids First.
The program was created as a joint effort between the local chapters of the NAACP, LULAC, Denton County Sheriff Will Travis and Denton Police Chief Lee Howell to foster a better, more positive view of officers in the community.
“When Ferguson happened and the others right after that happened, we decided we were going to do something here, in Denton, to be proactive,” said Willie Hudspeth, Denton NAACP President. “We thought, 'well, we ought to start with the kids first.'”
The group has been aiming many of their programs at middle schoolers in an attempt to change any negative views from that young age.
“What we found is the police don’t come around certain groups unless there’s a problem, so that created this distrust,” said Hudspeth.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
So Friday’s event aimed to show those middle schoolers positive interaction between their parents and the police while thanking the parents for passing the message along.
“Thanks for being a great parent to your kids,” said Officer Derek Bradford as he handed a flower to one mom at McMath Middle School.
