Brockville police handing out ‘Good Deed Citations’ to children this summer
A new partnership between the Brockville Police Service and Cowan's Dairy is rewarding kids and youth caught doing good deeds and playing safe in their community.
"The Brockville police are engaging youth this summer with the 'Good Deeds Citation,'" said community safety officer Greg Francis. "Our officers will have citations with us and will be issuing tickets to those kids we see having a good time, engaging in fair play, wearing their bike helmets, things like that."
Like Vinc Mulder in Centeen Park, who was caught wearing a bicycle helmet.
"I was a little bit scared, but then I was really happy," Mulder said after receiving his citation with a free ice cream cone from Cowan's.
"Thank you mom and dad for teaching me to wear a helmet," he added.
"We really just want the officers to be out interacting with the kids, you know, we want our kids in the community to have those positive interactions with police and just remind them that not all interactions with police have to be negative," added Francis, who was patrolling city parks on Friday with two youth in policing initiative students.
"I had about eight kids down here at (Centeen Park) this morning, they were all sharing some of their toys and things like that," Francis said. "A couple of them did have their bike helmets on when riding the bikes, it was great to see. We lined them up, we gave them their lecture for the morning on safety and they were just over the moon."
The Brockville Police Service is issuing ‘Good Deed Citations’ to children in Brockville this summer. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
Melissa McCoo of Cowan's Dairy said this isn't first time the team has partnered up.
"We love to help out the community, we like to see families and kids having fun, enjoying their summer and anyway we can help in that is our goal really," McCoo said.
"We love seeing kids come in, especially when they are rewarded like this from the police," she added. "They come in and it just brings a lot of joy, they're very proud so it makes us very happy to see that."
"Brockville is a great town, we've got a lot of good kids," McCoo said.
Melissa McCoo of Cowan’s Dairy in Brockville holding up a cone with Super Heroes Ice Cream. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
The most popular ice cream for kids at the moment os super heroes, which is a mix of banana, strawberry and blueberry.
Over in Hardy Park, Francis caught two young boys playing together and laughing.
"I think this is a citation for having fun," he said to Theo and Julian.
A great initiative, according to moms Pipsy Thomson and Melissa.
"It's really fun. I think it’s a nice way to build community between police officers and young kids that might be intimidated or scared of police so it's a nice way to connect," said Thomson.
"These little boys knew each other right from the baby age and we hadn't seen each other over the last year so when we do see each other it's all hugs and running around and big smiles," she added.
Brockville Police Service community safety officer Greg Francis in Canteen Park with two youth in policing initiative students. (Nate Vandermeer/CTV News Ottawa)
"I think it's nice to see some positivity in the town and encouraging kids to have fun again," added Melissa. "It's been hard, right? Being in lockdown for so long and now we're able to have fun and come out it's great to encourage that. And what better way than ice cream!"
"We've come across police just at the park and to be honest we've always had such a great experience in Brockville," she added. "They've always been so sweet and friendly with the kids and I think this is just another way to go a step further and interact with them that they are a safe presence."
"We have a great group of officers here in Brockville and we want to remind the youth that they can approach us anytime they have a problem." added Francis.
Officers will be handing out the good deed citations throughout the month of August.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
B.C. man fighting for refund after finding someone living at Whistler vacation rental
Edwin Mostered spent thousands of dollars booking a vacation home in Whistler, B.C., for a group skiing trip earlier this year – or so he thought.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Mortgage companies could intensify the next recession, U.S. officials warn
U.S. officials worry the next recession could be intensified by a cascading series of failures in the mortgage industry caused by crashing home prices, frozen financial markets and soaring delinquencies.