IPMBA News

Calendar featuring kids’ police-inspired art now available

By Matthew Ferreira, Thursday, December 29, 2016, South Coast Today

MIDDLEBORO MA - Just in time for the new year, a free wall calendar sponsored by the Middleborough Police Patrolmen's Union Local #76 is now available at various businesses and other spots around town, featuring the artwork of first graders from the Mary K. Goode Elementary School and Henry B. Burkland Elementary School.

President of the Middleborough Police Patrolmen's Union, Officer Steve Valerio, says the calendar is a first for the patrolmen's union as they try to further the department's goal to promote positive community relations.

After speaking with the members of the union and coming to a consensus to move forward with the project, Valerio says one of the department's school resource officers made contact with the schools' first grade teachers with the idea.

"With everything going on today, things you see in the news about police and so on, we thought it would be nice to get the kids involved with something like this and get them thinking about the police, what we're here for and so on. We want them to understand from an early age that we're here to help them and they should feel safe coming to us if the need us," Valerio said. "So the SRO talked to the teachers and they asked the kids to think about the police and what they do and, if they wanted, to draw a picture based on that."

Valerio said the officers were delighted with the portrayals of police work that came back as a result, which ranged from police officers telling children on bikes to wear a helmet, to pulling over speeding cars, to locking up "bad guys" in black and white-striped jump suits.

One theme in particular Valerio liked seeing in the artwork was the Middleborough Police Department's bike officers, who many youngsters around town have gotten accustomed to seeing on patrol in the summertime.

"I'm also in charge of the auxiliary police, who are the ones you see out in the summertime patrolling on bikes. It's a good way for the police to be visible in the community in a different way and it creates a lot of opportunities for those positive face to face interactions, so I was happy to see that come across when we got the pictures back because it shows that the kids are noticing that," he said. "We really enjoyed going through all the pictures the kids did with their first grade imaginations. It was a unique way to get a look at how they see us. It's also something special that the kids whose pictures we used and their families can save."

The calendar project plays into the department's "community policing" approach, which is defined by fostering healthy relationships between residents and the police.

"As much as people need the help of the police, the police need the help of the people too. We want people to report things, call in tips and things like that, and you have a better chance of those kinds of things happening when you have a good relationship between the police department and the residents. It's what the community policing approach is all about, and in the end, you end up with a safer town," Valerio said. "The department does a number of things along those lines - we have a presence in all of the four parades that happen in town, there's the bike patrols I mentioned, we supported Ella's Lemonade Shop during Krazy Days, did a dunk tank to support the Jesse Heikkila Foundation at the 4th of July carnival - just to give you some examples."

"We also have our high school internship program for the older kids in town who are interested in getting into police work, but if we can reach them at an even younger age that's fantastic," he continued. "Once kids get to a certain age, it becomes more difficult to change the way they think, so what we did with the calendar and really all these other things we're involved in, it's to reach out to them and make them realize while they're young that police are their friends."

Valerio said there's already been talks to continue putting together calendars of student artwork in the future, perhaps reaching out to different grade-levels every year.

To get one of these free calendars, visit the lobby of the Middleborough Police Station at 99 N. Main St. and simply grab a copy, or keep an eye out when visiting local businesses, as copies have been placed at various locations around town.

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