By Michelle Switzer
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Jared Mitkus sits with Edgecomb Eddy School kindergarteners for the Dine with a Deputy meal, Dec. 19. “It’s fun, I get to be a kid again, at least for an hour,” Mitkus said. (Michelle Switzer photo) |
Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies get to be “kids again” in their Dine with a Deputy program.
The program started in January 2013, and has grown into a program students and deputies both look forward to. “It’s really fun, I always have a good time,” Deputy Jared Mitkus said during a visit to the Edgecomb Eddy School last week. “I get to be a kid again, at least for an hour.”
According the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office website, the program is intended to increase the presence of law enforcement in Lincoln County schools, and increase the deputies’ knowledge of school grounds and property, staff, and students. It also aims to increase the interaction between law enforcement and school staff in a fun way.
“It really puts the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies in a positive light,” Mitkus said.
According to LCSO Chief Deputy Ken Mason, the program originally put a deputy in a Lincoln County school once a week. Such visits are now a daily occurrence.
“We have different deputies scheduled at different schools every day of the week when school is in session,” Mason said. “All sworn members of the sheriff’s office, including Sheriff Brackett, are involved in this activity.”
Officers sit with the students during lunch. At recess, the officers play whatever game the students want, Mitkus said
“We talk about whatever they want to talk about, and do whatever they want to do,” Mitkus said.
According to Mason, the number one question students ask the officers is if the officers carry a Taser. “They are apparently aware that a Taser is a common tool for law enforcement,” Mason said.
Whether the deputies are talking with students, or playing games with them, they are building relationships between the schools and the sheriff’s office.
“The staff, students, and I have met at least a dozen different officers from the sheriff’s office,” school Principal Lisa Clarke said. “The kids all get excited when they see an officer here, no matter who it is.”
The staff overall feel the benefit of the program, and can sense a level of comfort around an officer in uniform.
“I think the main goal of the program is to help the children to feel comfortable around the officers,” Clarke said. “They are the good guys who serve the community.”
