JACKSON POLICE TO REWARD CITIZENS FOR SAFETY

JACKSON -- When was the last time a tete-a-tete with a police officer left you smiling?

It could happen beginning next month in Jackson.

Officers will begin handing out safety citations to people observed acting in a way that promotes safety. That could include children wearing bicycle helmets, motorists that allow other drivers into traffic or people furthering safety at home, on the job or at school.

At the bottom of the citation will be coupons good for free pizza, movie rentals, bowling, hamburgers or ice cream at Jackson businesses.

The aim is to promote both safety and a positive relationship between the police and the community.

"This gives us a new police mission," says Patrolman Chris Muench, who is in charge of the safety citation program. "This expands it from enforcement to positive interactions with the community we normally don't have."

Citizens and the police working together to solve problems is the idea behind the community policing approach that is taking root in police departments across the United States. The safety citation programs parallel the bike patrols and other community policing tactics aimed at establishing a good rapport between the police and the people they serve.

"Our department is small in number but we can get creative in solving the problems in the area together," says Muench. "That's what community policing is all about."

Actual traffic stops to hand out a safety citation will be rare, Muench says. Some St. Louis-area police departments using the program discovered motorists were still upset even after discovering why they'd been stopped.

"It didn't work well there where you've got an eight-lane freeway and people are getting pulled over," Muench said.

In most cases involving motorists who help avoid accidents, the officer will write down the license number and the citation will be mailed.

"We don't want to make somebody late for work and they walk away with a free movie," Muench said.

He said the safety citation program has been a success in the St. Louis-area city of Chesterfield. There, the police have been rewarding safe teen-age drivers near the high school.

If the program is successful, statistics should bear it out with fewer accidents and fewer calls resulting from road rage, Muench said.

Jackson Police Chief Marvin Sides, who first learned of the program through a law enforcement magazine, said its primary goal is to get people thinking about safety at all times. "If they're safe in one area of their life they should be safe in all areas," he said. "We want people to be responsible. That goes along with our belief that a lawful society is a matter of individual responsibility."