Cops and Kindergartners Make For A Great Partnership in Cedar Falls

The kindergartners at were full of excitement for their visit from three Cedar Falls police officers yesterday.

The annual visit was made possible by the , which awarded the a grant, enabling them to sustain their reading program and personally read to nearly 450 children since April 23.

As the students returned from recess and entered the classroom, a young boy looked up at Officer Matt Krueger with his eyes wide and said, “Woah, you’re big! And there’s handcuffs!”

The other children were just as excited to have such a “big” grownup with a sparkly badge within their presence, asking a continuous melody of questions before the reading could even begin.

The children each received a copy of the book, titled “A Day in the Life of a Police Officer.”

With every turn of the page, the children squirmed in their spots on the floor as they listened, gasping to their friends at parts they really enjoyed, including learning about how some officers ride horses and others have police dogs.

When the book was finished, it was time for Officer Krueger to show the children what they had been asking about since they first entered the classroom — what all of the interesting objects on his belt were.

After explaining how handcuffs work and telling the children about his bullet-proof vest, the children had an opportunity to ask questions, instantly causing every eager hand to shoot in the air.

Most “questions” the kindergartners asked were actually stories they wanted to share with Officer Krueger about police officers they had seen in the past, or even what they had been doing earlier in the day.

One child said, “When I was one year old, I had a fake police costume and my dad told me I was a real police man,” making the children around him look around with excitement.

Whether a child raised their hand with a question or a comment, Officer Krueger acknowledged each child’s statement with a smile.

Officer Krueger wasn’t the only one at Orchard Hill Elementary that day — Officer Mark Abernathy, who also serves as the school resource officer, and Officer Katie Burkhardt were reading to kindergartners in other classrooms as well.

Officer Albernathy said he enjoys getting to know the students, and as a school resource officer, he works with each of the 10 schools in Cedar Falls with the safety of the children as his top priority.

“The goal is to break down that barrier so they’re comfortable around public service — whether it’s police or fire or ambulance — so they know they can come to us if there’s a problem,” said Officer Albernathy.

According to Officer Albernathy, the Cedar Falls Police Department has formed a partnership with Target, who he says is “huge at giving back.” Target is also involved with the department’s “Safety City Program,” which is held at Target each fall and focuses on safety awareness for the kindergartners, allowing them to “get up-close and personal with the fire trucks and ambulances” and even climb inside the police car.

“That’s where we really stress who we are and what we do, and that we’re approachable,” said Officer Albernathy. “We try and take the intimidation factor out of the equation. We’re just normal moms and dads doing normal jobs — this just happens to be what we do.”