LYNN — Police officers handed bottles and bicycle helmets to dozens of children in the parking lot behind Manning Field Thursday morning at the department’s second annual Bike Safety Day.
In the scorching heat, police officers, on their bicycles, led a parade-like cluster of kids around an obstacle course designed to teach them road safety. At one point, the children competed in a “slowest cyclist” contest.
Lt. Tim Donovan said that the program, which started last year after Boston Injury Attorney David White donated 100 helmets to the police department, has since expanded to a full-blown public safety and recreation summer program.
“He donates 100 bike helmets every year. We used to just kind of give them out as we saw kids, and then Chief Reddy had the idea last year do a Bike Safety Day/Bike Rodeo with kids going through an obstacle course with a bike and teach them about safety — stop signs, watching out for pedestrians, watching out when you ride and people might be backing out of their driveway,” Donovan said.
Last year, police hosted the event at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, but Donovan said that they changed the location this summer to try to bring the program to a wider range of kids in the city.
“This year, we’re using Manning Field, and we’re trying to move around the city to get every neighborhood central location where kids can come in from all over, you know, get a helmet and have some fun with us. That’s basically what it is. Community outreach to hang out with some kids and have some fun with it,” he said.
Ward 3 Councilor Coco Alinsug stayed to watch the event because he said that programs like Bike Safety Day not only teach children road safety, but help foster relationships between young people and police officers.
“It’s nice for them to see our Lynn Police and interact with them, so that they will feel comfortable asking questions. I used to do that when I first came here. I was afraid of cops, I don’t know the reason why, but it’s nice to have them here,” Alinsug said.
Alinsug said that at last year’s event, he was touched by an interaction between a police officer and a crying child. He said that positive interactions between children and local law enforcement are important for the community at large.
“It really touches my heart because last year, I saw a kid crying so hard, and the mom was basically forcing the kid saying ‘come on, join your friends,’ and he really didn’t want to. Then, the cops approached the kid and handed him a helmet, and you could see the kid, the smile on the kid’s face, he was beaming with pride, and after that moment, he was there all day riding bikes with them,” Alinsug said. “Activities like this are really important for our community. It’s for kids to know that cops are not just there with guns and responding to crises, but also there for community service. It’s very important.”
Miguel Gomez, 7, said that he likes his new helmet, and that he had fun riding his bike with police. He said that he learned to stop at stop signs and pedestrian crossings.
“It was fun because we could ride bikes, and we had a lot of fun with the police. They gave us helmets, that was the best thing,” Gomez said. “I learned that when you see a stop sign, you need to stop, and when you see a sign with people walking, you need to stop.”
Department of Public Works Associate Commissioner Lisa Nerich said that she appreciates programs such as this one, as they teach children safety and foster positive relationships with the police.
“It’s a nice partnership with the Lynn Police Department to host this for the children. It’s very important for them to learn the rules and regulations of the road, since the city has the new bike lanes. It’s a nice day, a hot day, but the kids are out here, they’re having fun and interacting with the Lynn Police Department, that’s a great asset too,” Nerich said.
Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected].
