
Photos by Ruth SOWBY
By Ruth SOWBY
The Glendale Police Officers Association program “Cops for Kids” visited Columbus Elementary on April 9 along with the “star” of the show: Brisket, a 3½ year old yellow lab retriever. GPD Community Relations Officer Amy Tate is Brisket’s handler. She takes him home when he’s off duty.
On April 9, 550 free goodie bags were handed out to students in 21 classrooms. They received pencils, erasers, stickers and candy along with a lesson on traffic safety.
The goal of the “Cops for Kids” program is to teach students traffic safety and respect for the law. Officer Tate visits the school once a month.
“Amy’s interaction is always positive,” said Columbus Principal Jill Firstman.
Motorcycle officer Taylor Zavala visited the classroom of kindergarten teacher Anahit Arutyunyan.

“Why do you use stun guns?” asked a student.
Officer Zavala answered, “We use a taser that’s not deadly. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Another student asked, “What happens when you get tired?”
Zavala said, “I keep going, so I don’t get hurt by the bad guy.” She ended her remarks by stressing the importance of wearing a helmet while riding a bike, scooter or skateboard.
According to Tate, some kids love to tell on their parents when the subject of seatbelts comes up.
“My dad never wears his seatbelt” has been heard more than once. Tate and other officers keep up-to-date when teaching safety. “Cyber safety” is stressed in visits to classrooms with older students. Officers urge the kids to never release any personal information on the Internet and to be careful with what they share on the Internet.

Tate said, “The students can go home and share with their family what they learned … and talk about their experience with the officers visiting their school and the positive information that we gave them.”