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‘Good deed tickets’ hope to change perception, behaviour |
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Written by Delon Shurtz LETHBRIDGE HERALD
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Monday, June 01 2009, 10:20 PM |
Did you hear about the kid who was pulled over for speeding?
The police officer got out of his car and the young man rolled down his window.
"I've been waiting for you all day," the cop said.
The driver replied, "Yeah, well I got here as fast as I could."
No driver likes to look in the rear-view mirror and see the dreaded red and blue flashing lights. But now there’s reason to look forward to getting pulled over, unless, of course, you’re speeding or just blew through a stop light.
Later this summer Lethbridge regional police will stop drivers for driving courteously, obeying the law, or for doing whatever an officer deems worthy of a “Good Deed Ticket.”
The tickets, which resemble the much dreaded and maligned city parking tickets, will be redeemable for mini cupcakes from Crazy Cakes, $10 off at Humpty’s restaurant, one matinee pass at the Movie Mill, a 10-inch pizza from Papa John’s pizza, or admission for two people at the Ramada water park.
Police const. Blaine Stodolka announced the program Monday and said he hopes it will have a positive impact on the community.
“If you reward positive behaviour, you get more positive behaviour,” he said.
During the first stage of the program, tickets will be issued by school resource officers in Lethbridge and Coaldale who see students doing random acts of kindness, like opening a door for a senior or preventing bullying. They will also earn a ticket for acting responsibly and making good decisions, like wearing a bike helmet.
The program will then expand to the police department’s traffic unit.
“They see lots of people doing a lot of good deeds,” Stodolka said.
Then the program will expand to the rest of the police force, and officers will be seen as the good guys and not always the bad guys handing out tickets for various infractions.
“We’re hoping this will expand to the point where we’re handing out more good tickets than bad tickets.”
Stodolka got the idea for the Good Deed Tickets during a crime prevention forum he attended. The RCMP were running a similar program, but instead of tickets, they handed out coupons.
“We’ve taken it to the next level,” Stodolka said, adding the program will run for a year and then be evaluated to determine whether it will continue.
Becky Baunton and Denise Hammon, owners of Crazy Cakes, think the program is a great idea and look forward to the first time they redeem a ticket for a half dozen of their mini cupcakes.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” Hammon said. “Hopefully it will promote more good behaviour.”
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