‘Cops & Pops’ Builds Positive Relationships

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

Officers from the Mesquite Police Department paid a visit to the Summer Winds Apartment Complex to cool things down a little in the neighborhood. Calling the activity ‘Cops and Pops’, the officers came loaded with ammunition of freezer pops and Gatorade, water pistols and water balloons. The officers were ready to have some cool summer fun with the kids in the community.

There were four officers, two detectives and eight volunteers in attendance. They were joined by other on-duty officers, who stopped by in-between calls to join in the fun.

“Every kid received a water pistol, to keep,” said MPD spokesman Sgt. Wyatt Oliver. “And there were also about 800 water balloons thrown.”

Everyone got wet. All of the kids were having a great time: both the big kids dressed in blue, and the younger ones from Summer Winds.

The police reported that one of the children said, “I didn’t know officers were nice people, this is so much fun.”

Even some of the parents came out and joined in the fun. There were between 40 and 50 youngsters taking part.

Oliver said that ‘Cops and Pops was the brainchild of MPD Chief MaQuade Chesley.

“These events are part of Chief Chesley’s’ community outreach efforts,” explained Oliver. “He wanted to do something to help maintain good relationships between police and the local youngsters. They are good for that and they are also a lot of fun for us!”

Wednesday’s visit to Summer Winds was the second of the Cops and Pops events. The MPD plans to do one such event per month in different neighborhoods of Mesquite through the month of October. Keep an eye on the MPD Facebook page for times and locations.