Upon its establishment, there were several goals and purposes of the Officer Friendly Program not the least of which are safety and crime prevention. Officer Friendly seeks to provide students with opportunities to learn about their rights and responsibilities as citizens, while encouraging them to form positive attitudes towards their own welfare and the welfare of others.
Mission
- To establish positive rapport among students, teachers, parents, and Police.
- To foster supportive attitudes toward respect for the law and law enforcement officials.
- To provide instruction to elementary students on safety and crime prevention as well as focusing on their rights and responsibilities as students and citizens while encouraging the formation of positive attitudes toward themselves and others.
- To provide the school with student coloring books and hand-outs containing safety tip information to be used for additional classroom presentations.
- To sponsor and judge a poster contest in conjunction with the theme of the Officer Friendly presentations.
The Officer Friendly Program was implemented in 1977 to establish rapport among students, teachers, parents and the Uniformed Officer by providing opportunities to learn about law enforcement, while fostering supportive attitudes towards Police Officers. Officer Friendly visits all 26 elementary schools, Kindergarten through Third grade, twice a year presenting a new topic each semester. Example topics include strangers, 911, bicycle safety, seatbelt safety, shoplifting, drugs and personal safety. A day in each school consists of six to eight presentations, complete with props and humor, lasting up to forty minutes each. It is essential that Officer Friendly be familiar with the topic, as well as able to captivate the young audiences' attention in order to be effective in encouraging a lasting positive attitude toward law enforcement officers.
For more information, please email chiefsoffice@hampton.gov or call (757) 727-6510.