Cops & Community Come Together To Fish

About 50 kids and their families turned out to Fish With A Cop in Bristol Borough over the weekend.

Officers from the borough’s police department spent a portion of their Saturday fishing with kids age 12 and under at Delaware Canal Lagoon Park.

Officer Chuck Palmer said the inaugural event, which received support from residents, businesses, and the borough, went well and the kids who caught the largest fish were awarded prizes valued from a dollar to $200.

“Every kid who didn’t have a pole can keep the one they use,” he said, citing Trainpops Attic on Mill Street for the support.

Kids and their parents caught carp, catfish, sunfish, and other varieties that live in the body of water.

Sage Brown went fishing with her 8-year-old son Kenny during the event.

While Kenny didn’t have any luck by noon, he said he was enjoying the event.

Jacob Varra, 8, sat nearby waiting for his first catch with his mom Brittany Todd.

Palmer said the event came together one day when he saw five kids sharing two fishing poles in the borough and after his 20-year-old daughter Emily told him he had become “colder” over his years of being a police officer.

“This job was wearing me down,” he said.

After formulating the idea, Palmer and other officers that are part of the police union went to work organizing Fish With A Cop.

Palmer said the main idea of the event was to give the kids in the borough something to do on a Saturday.

Officers plan to hold Fish With A Cop next year and also expand to a second event where older kids can take part.