“York kids, police bond with video games” plus 1 more

Posted: 28 May 2010 07:04 PM PDT

Martin Library in York was full of police Wednesday afternoon, but there were no badges, uniforms or guns -- just a lively room filled with kids and some video games.

It's all part of an outreach effort arranged by the York City Police Department to better communicate with the city's youth. Once a month, city police have been leaving their uniform blues at home, opting to spend the afternoon at the library playing Mariokart, Madden NFL and Wii bowling.

Wednesday was the second time the police have held the event, and most of the 30 to 40 children who attended seemed to have forgotten there were officers in their midst. Kids and police officers cheered as they steered their MarioKart characters to victory and groaned as they careened off-course, flicking their Wii remotes to compensate.

The video games have been a great way to bond with kids, particularly the youngest ones, York City Police Chief Wes Kahley said.

"The earlier we can have a good positive interaction with them the better," he said. "So later down the line, we're not looked at as adversaries, but as friends."

Police haven't scheduled their next video game session at Martin Memorial Library yet, but they're planning to expand the program to twice a month during the summer, Kahley said.

The idea for the program came from a discussion between Kahley and library Human Resources Director, Cindy Pol. Local kids regularly flood the library after school, and there aren't enough computers to keep them busy, Pol said. So the district attorney donated some TVs collected during drug seizures, and the police used donation money to buy some game systems, she said.

The officers have been perfecting the event as they go. They opted to bring healthier food options like subs and a vegetable tray for their second visit, and they're looking into additional laptops to keep more kids occupied.

But the children have already warmed to the officers, Kahley said.

Adrian Jimenez, 11, has been to both of the police outreach events since they began in April. He bounced excitedly on Wednesday as he waited for Kahley to pour him a cup of punch and explained that he wants to be a police officer when he grows up.

"He (Kahley) says he's going to hire me," Jimenez said happily. "Because he's the boss."

Hector Mendez, 11, said he's not afraid of police officers. In their khakis and polo shirts, they just seem like older friends, he said.

"They help us from getting hurt when people do bad things like shoot people for no reason," he said.

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York kids, police bond with video games

Posted: 29 May 2010 12:01 AM PDT