"The officers love this opportunity."

“I want to be a police officer when I grow up.”

“Do you have a police dog?”

“Have you ever arrested somebody?”

Those were just a few of the things overheard during Lunch Stop with a Cop in the Encino Park Elementary School cafeteria. Officers from the North East ISD Police Department (NEPD) answered tons of questions and shared a lot of laughs with the students over lunch. The students were enamored with the officers.

“They absolutely love the officers,” said Encino Park Counselor Lauren Lichte. “We just want to build relationships between the students and the officers so that they know them when they get to the middle school and high school.”

NEPD Police Chief Wally McCampbell says these events are fun for the students and his officers. But, it’s also critical for their relationships.

“It’s all positive. The officers love this opportunity,” said McCampbell. “This gives the students the chance to meet the officers in a good environment. If they only see officers when bad things happen, they feel that we are bad people. We want them to know we are there for them in the good times too.”