The Dallas Police Department invited Rotary to participate in yet another community project with the objective of minimizing conflict, creating trust and rapport between citizenry and the police department in a high crime neighborhood of Dallas.
At the Bexar Block Party, April 23, the Rotary Club of Dallas set up a “Coloring with Cops” booth where police officers worked literally hand-in-hand with children to color a really big poster. The now-finished poster will be laminated and displayed in the community center for all to see. There were smiles all around as the children came to see officers as playful, friendly, and safe persons through this positive interaction. One child even wrote a note about loving the police! Every child was sent home with a toy, colors and a Rotary-branded coloring book: “Police Officers Are Our Friends”. And since it was Earth Day weekend, the children also plant seeds in pots to take home as a reminder of this day for some time to come!