Fort Worth’s new top cop visited students at Sycamore Elementary School on Friday.
The visit was part of the school’s Career Day and included other officers, the Fort Worth Fire Department, and other professions.
Chief Ed Kraus with the Fort Worth Police Department spent Friday morning speaking with classes on what police officers do and what his job entails. This week, Kraus was named the official permanent police chief after serving as interim chief for the past six months.
Kraus, who has been with the department for more than 26 years, tells NBC 5 reaching people early is an important step to build trust between the police department and community.
"If they get a positive experience now, even if they have a negative experience later they have something to fall back that says 'hey – maybe not all police officers are like that' because I remember that good experience I had," Kraus said. "We really want to foster that as early on as we can."
The police department currently participates in youth programs such as mentoring through sports and reading.
