By Charles Owens, Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — In addition to popsicles, officers with the Bluefield Police Department will soon be distributing juice boxes to area children as well.
The police department will be the first West Virginia-based law enforcement agency to participate in Operation Juice Box, a non-profit campaign that provides police officers with juice boxes to pass out to kids in the areas they patrol, according to Bluefield Police Chief Dennis Dillow.
The goal of the program is to help build positive relationships between law enforcement and youth, one juice box at a time.
“It helps break down barriers between the children and the police department,” Dillow said. “I’ve said this before, but if we can get our children to change how they think about police, and not be afraid then anytime they’re in trouble, they’ll seek us out. And so that’s what we’re looking for.”
