Children in Cobleskill, New York are being given tickets left and right by police this summer, but not for the reasons you might think. Instead of giving out tickets only for people breaking a law, or not complying with a city ordinance, police decided to take a different approach this summer, by giving out tickets to children who are doing the right thing.
Summer in New York is a time when children of all ages spend time outside having fun with their friends, looking to stay busy, and often, riding their bikes, so this has proven a perfect time for for the city to implement this new tradition. The Cobleskill Police Department has made it their mission to make sure that all underage bike riders are being as safe as possible, going so far as partnering with the health department, as well as the Schoharie County Child at Risk Response Team, to be able to personally give out free bicycle helmets to any child who needs one.
The police department didn’t stop there though. Giving every child a helmet was only step-one, now they have found a way to make sure the kids know how important it is to wear the helmets, in a way that only kids will appreciate. Keeping with the tradition of partnering with outside organizations, the police department partnered with Stewart’s shops to create “tickets” that come with a gift certificate for a free ice cream.
In an interview with Cobleskill’s local news channel, WNYT, the chief of police, Richard Bialkowski, is quoted as saying, “It’s reinforcing good behavior. It’s kind of helpful to also establish positive contacts between us and the community. It’s kind of a win for everybody.”
WNYT also hit the streets to do interviews with several children they found riding their bikes, with their helmets, as well as riding along with one of the officers, Joelle West, giving out these special tickets. They followed Officer West as she gave out several tickets to surprised and delighted children all over the city. One of those children, five-year-old Molly Tefft, was even a recent recipient of one of the free bicycle helmets the department has been giving out.
Molly was very excited to share with the reporters and the officer about her summer experience and noted that she sometimes even goes “super super fast” on her bike while sporting her safety helmet. Luckily for Molly and the other children of Cobleskill, the police department has hundreds more of the “good job” ice cream tickets to give out over the summer, so it’s going to be a long, safe, and delicious summer for everyone.
Source: WNYT
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