GREENFIELD — For parents who’ve been wondering how to find some educational moments for their young children as this unprecedented school year comes to an end, officials with the Greenfield Police Department have stepped up to help.
They’ve been playing host to a “Books and Badges” program the past several weeks: An officer reads a children’s book on video to children who can watch the presentation via the department’s Facebook page.
“I thought it was a great idea with the coronavirus shutting everything down for us to reach out to the community,” GPD officer Brock Smith said.
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Smith, the father of three young children, has read a children’s book or two in his day. He’s just one of the many GPD officers who have stepped up to help.
He read “I Love You to the Moon and Back,” one of his kids’ favorites, because it had great pictures he thought other children might enjoy.
“It’s a great way for us to still interact with the kids who are not able to be in school right now,” Smith said.
Capt. Chuck McMichael has set up each of the weekly book readings and hopes to organize at least a couple more. He records the segments, which are then posted to the department’s social media sites.
McMichael calls the program a great “outreach tool.” He liked the idea because he felt it would not only help entertain some youngsters, but it allows the whole community to see a different side of police officers.
“A lot of our officers have kids and read to them on a regular basis,” McMichael said.
While restrictions on activities are starting to ease a bit and families will start engaging in their regular routines more and more, the videos are still great entertainment for kids to watch over and over again, particularly those who love reading.
“Hopefully, this gives us a little softer image for the younger generation that still holds law enforcement in very high regard,” McMichael said.
Officers in the department have had a good time picking books and presenting them. Officer Stephen Kalk even brought his K9 partner Matrix to his reading.
“He’s ready and excited for story time here,” Kalk said as petted the dog during his reading of “Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?” It was a book his daughter picked out for him to share with the community children.
The posts of the videos have received nothing but positive feedback, Chief Jeff Rasche said.
Rasche thought the program was a good one to implement after seeing other law enforcement agencies around the state do something similar.
“I just thought it was such a neat idea — another way for police to be able to humanize our role in the community,” Rasche said.
Rasche particularly liked being able to give parents a little bit of a break.
‘We’ve all gone through this thing, the pandemic, together and we all miss the regular things in life,” Rasche said. “Parents and children being at home have really had to learn how to cope with all of this.”
Rasche and his department are hoping their gesture of providing a little educational entertainment has helped out in some way.
According to the comments on the social media sites, they have.
“What a great idea,” one post read. “Adorable! Thank you so much for reading and for your service,” said another.
