CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — More than 300 children ages 8-16 attended the Law Enforcement Foundation's third annual Youth and Law Enforcement Day.
The event was held at Airshare in Cheektowaga and included 21 local law agencies. Children had the opportunity to watch multiple presentations where officers showed off trained police horses and police dogs. They also could go around to the different tables and talk with officers about what they do and why they want to be police officers.
The various departments brought all sorts of vehicles like the State Trooper police boat and even a vintage Transit Police car. They gave the kids tours and showed them all the different gear they might wear while on the job.
Rocco Diina, the Chairman of the Law Enforcement Foundation of Western New York said that while this event is super fun for all those involved, it also serves a greater purpose. Dinna said, "By interacting with the police in a non-confrontational way, when they are out on the street or as they get older, they have a real positive feeling for the police, that we are here to help them,".
The kids also got to sit and eat lunch with the officers, offering another level of connection. West Seneca Police Chief Edward Baker enjoys this event and he hopes it allows the kids to know that police officers are a part of their community. "It gives us an opportunity to get together with kids from the community and show them some of our equipment and at the same time interact with them to show them that we are just regular people like their families are,".
There was no lack of excitement while the students moved around learning about all of the different agencies, one child Kiarah Suazo said that she enjoyed the event and got to sit in a couple of the different trucks. Suazo said, "it was nice to meet them, get to know what they do, how they do it, what equipment they use. I did my finger print, it was cool, I got to like dust the thingy, it was cool,".