Falls Twp. Police Launch ‘Adopt A Cop’ Program With Pennsbury School District

September 28, 2023

The Falls Township Police Department unveiled its newest community initiative on Wednesday: the “Adopt A Cop” program.

The initiative aims to foster a stronger bond between the police, the Pennsbury School District, and the township’s youngest residents.

The Adopt A Cop program will feature sixteen officers, who work rotating daywork squads, who will be available for “adoption” by schools within the Pennsbury School District.

As of Wednesday, posters displaying the participating officers and voting ballots have been distributed to district schools.

Elementary school students have been provided paper ballots, enabling them to cast votes for their preferred police officer. Meanwhile, high schoolers and Village Park Academy students will cast their votes electronically via a QR code, police said.

The week-long voting window will close on Wednesday, October 4.

Votes will be tallied shortly after, with the lucky adopted officers to be announced on Monday, October 9.

The culmination of this initiative will be marked with an adoption ceremony, where the selected officers will be handed certificates by the school principals, formalizing their adoption, according to police.

Once an officer is adopted, they’ll make introductions to the school’s support staff, teachers, and students, police said.

The officers will also work on familiarizing themselves with the school’s daily schedules.

Duties of these adopted officers will include school walkthroughs, greeting students at the start and end of the school day, overseeing school zones, and availing themselves to any teacher or student with law enforcement-related inquiries or concerns, according to the department.

“Our officers and the Pennsbury School District are very excited about the mutual sense of ownership and personalized commitment this adoptive relationship will bring,” a statement from police said.

The department added: “We wish the best of luck to all of our officers as they compete for adoption, no matter the outcome, they will all receive a good home!”