A popular and rewarding initiative has finished after a run of two months. The Positive Ticketing program, which has law enforcement officers rewarding both children and adults practicing proper bicycle safety returned for the summer months and was well received by all parties.
Positive Ticketing took a couple years off because of restrictions, but was welcomed back, especially by Constable Mike Wedel of the Kindersley RCMP.
“I can speak to my examples and interactions that I’ve had have been incredibly positive. We had a lot of positive interaction in the sense that they didn’t know what to expect from the police. At first, they had thought they had done something wrong, but were borderline delighted to realize they were doing something right and were being rewarded for that.”
Wedel, who is fairly new to the Kindersley detachment goes on to explain it was nice to see the program generate the same response as it did in years past.
“I ran into a couple youth that had said they had participated in this program 3 years in a row and they were happy to see the program still running and happy to be rewarded for wearing their helmet or crossing the street safely and just doing anything that was positive and contributing to the community.”
In addition to handing out rewards, Positive Ticketing also helped grow a better relationship between officers and the public. The interactions were a great chance for members of the RCMP to hear from the public and find out what was going on in the community.
“It had kind of a dual purpose as we had that excitement, that kind of shock that hey, they’re getting something and then they opened up to us a bit about what’s happening in the community which is incredibly important for police to have that contact with the community and have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the neighbourhood” says Wedel.
Wedel continued to explain the importance of building a bond with residents.
“This is exactly what you need to bridge that gap when it comes to communication, when it comes to comfort with speaking with the law enforcement in town. It opens the dialogue for questions, general questions people have always had, but might be a little too timid to ask. So it was very successful in that regard.”
All in all, the response from the recipients, RCMP, and law enforcement officers in Kindersley was a ‘positive’ one and Wedel along with those listed look forward to the Positive Ticketing program returning next year.
Thu, Apr 25, 9:30 AM
