Anaheim Deputy Chief Julian Harvey gets a high-five from Junior cadets as he pays a visit on the final day of Anaheim PD’s Cops 4 Kids Jr. Cadet Academy at Betsy Ross Elementary.Photo by Steven Georges/Behind the Badge OC
YARMOUTH – This Friday, March 24, numerous police departments from Cape Cod and the Islands and all over Southeastern Massachusetts will participate in High Five Friday.
The program involves uniformed officers greeting school children as they arrive for school in the morning and exchanging high fives.
High Five Friday is designed to create positive engagement with youth in the community and fits with recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
It’s also in line with the following two pillars of 21st Century Policing which are Building Trust and Legitimacy, and Community Policing and Crime Reduction.
The goals of High Five Friday are:
- Positive interaction with school children and Police Officers
- Added to the sense of security for faculty, students, and parents
- Build trust
- Reduce fear
- Foster positive relationships
- Police Officers are viewed as guardians and part of the community
- Police Officers gain a greater sense of friendship with faculty, students, and parents
Yarmouth Police Department Patrol Officer Richard Fichter, Jr., a graduate of Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School and United States Army veteran, will be the police officer-in-Charge of the program.
Both the Yarmouth and Dennis Police Departments will be involved with the Dennis-Yarmouth School District this Friday.
