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
BREAKING Another suspect arrested in Toronto Pearson airport gold heist: police
Police say another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year.
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Trump hush money trial: Play-by-play on Day 2 of Stormy Daniels testimony
Adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand for a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump's hush money case continues in Manhattan.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Miss Teen USA steps down just days after Miss USA's resignation
Miss Teen USA resigned Wednesday, sending further shock waves through the pageant community just days after Miss USA said she would relinquish her crown.
Cyclist strikes child crossing the street to catch school bus in Montreal
A video circulating on social media of a young girl being hit by a bike has some calling for better safety and more caution when designing bike lanes in the city. The video shows a four-year-old girl crossing Jeanne-Mance Street in Montreal's Plateau neighbourhood to get on a school bus stopped on the opposite side of the street
B.C. wildfires likely to spread with weekend temperatures expected to soar, province says
Wildfire and emergency management officials in British Columbia are urging residents to be prepared for increased fire activity as temperatures are expected to soar above 30 C in parts of the province this weekend.
Wilfrid Laurier football player drafted despite only playing 27 games in his entire life
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.