With tensions often escalating between police officers and citizens in many parts of the United States, one American city's police department is looking to grow police-community bonds with a fun bike ride.
On July 23, a group of Colorado police officers will be riding bikes with kids from the Sun Valley Youth Center to visit the Denver Broncos, Colorado's popular professional football team that won the 2016 Super Bowl. Some 40 kids from a public housing neighborhood will ride with police officers and cyclists from Denver's Front Rangers Cycling Club to the Broncos' stadium, where they will get to spend an hour with the team at a mini-camp. Then the group will ride back to the Youth Center for lunch.
Sergeant Kim Lovato of the Denver Police Department told BikeRadar that the main goal is to "humanize the badge" — to get the neighborhood kids to see police officers as people who want to serve the community.
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"Not every encounter with a police officer has to be in an enforcement role," said Sgt Lovato. "We want to interact with the kids and let them know that we may not be as scary as what some may believe. We want to show them that they can approach any officer and just say hi and know that we are there to help them."
"I would love them to walk away with the impression that just because there is a police officer around does not mean that someone is doing something bad or is in trouble," Lovato said. "We want them to not have fear of anyone in a uniform."
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