Howell Officer Trades Traffic Tickets For Treats On Christmas

HOWELL, NJ - While getting pulled over is never a cheerful experience, getting pulled over during the rush of the holiday season can be decidedly worse. One Howell Township police officer is trying to change that.

Ptl. Brett Kyle has treated locals to surprises in previous years, handing out sweets to motorists who were stopped on Christmas Day for “extremely minor” infractions (part of a community policing outreach). But during a tumultuous year like 2020, the officer told Patch he wanted to do something more:

“This was not a department wide initiative. This is an idea I came up with one my own,” Kyle said.

“This year I felt like I would do a little more. By no means was I promoting unsafe driving, I would stop people for extremely minor infractions. It’s part of a community policing outreach.”

Related: Drivers Get Gift Cards, Not Tickets In Brick PD's Blue Christmas

Kyle considers the yearly effort a success, with 10 lucky recipients receiving a $10 Wawa gift card during his afternoon and evening patrol shift on Dec. 25. One resident even took to social media to praise the officer for the act of kindness, as initially reported by Howell Happenings NJ:

“Just want to shout out Howell police for pulling over my sister and instead of giving her a ticket she was greeted ‘Merry Christmas’ and was given a Wawa gift card,” the resident said.

“To whoever that officer was, I salute you and all the other officers on the job.”

Kyle says he plans to continue the holiday tradition in future years with the department and encourages other officers to do the same. To the Howell resident, the simple surprises were met with overwhelming responses from drivers, a bout of joy he hopes to add to their day amid a year of uncertainty and gloom.

“I want people to see the good in us, police officers. We aren’t bad people,” said Kyle. “As a result of the pandemic a lot of people have been depressed and stuck inside their homes. The reactions that I was presented with when I pulled a gift card out of my pocket was priceless and made it so worth it.”