Lima (l.) and fi rst-grader Christopher Ramirez, both of Washington School.
They, along with other students, sent letters and drawings to t he KPD expressing
their appreciation for police services. Some samples appear here.
KEARNY –
While visiting Kearny police headquarters the other day, our attention was caught by a delightful crayon drawing — the one you see here — sitting on a desk. Closer inspection revealed there was a handwritten letter attached. And there were many more drawings and letters, all obviously from very young children.
Here’s one of the notes:
“Dear Kearny police officers.
“Thank you for protecting us every time we need you. Thank you for always being there for us. And making everyone follow the rules. And protecting Earth. And taking all the bad guys to jail. You’re kind to other people, especially the children in school. And protecting us. If we didn’t have police officers, we wouldn’t be safe. We would be hurt by bad guys but you guys put them in jail. You’re wonderful, amazing . . . Thank you so, so, so much!
“Gratefully, Stephannie”
We don’t know how old Stephannie is, but we do know that she is a student at Kearny’s Washington School, and her wonderful tribute to the KPD was part of a class project suggested by Principal Jon Zimmerman.
Please note: “Suggested by.”
Zimmerman has the “blue blood” genes — his brother, Michael, is a lieutenant in the N.J. State Police, and his father, Skip, was a KPD deputy chief — but that’s not what inspired the idea of expressing appreciation to the township’s PD.
“With everything negative going on in the world, and with the police getting crushed on TV, I wanted to build a little bond in the community,” he told us.
Citing such efforts as the D.A.R.E. [Drug Abuse Resistance Education] program, Zimmerman noted that the local police “do great work with the schools.”
One night, he was watching the television news — with yet another report about some cop somewhere doing something to make headlines. “I was just tired of all the negativity,” he said. “The KPD does such a wonderful job. The police are the good guys. I tell the kids all the time, ‘They’re there to help you.’”
So the next day, he suggested the letter project. “It was completely optional,” he emphasized. “I just threw it out there, and the teachers jumped on board.”
Youngsters in grades K through 6 took part. And when the project was completed, the principal took one first-grader and one second grader to KPD headquarters to personally deliver the letters — each with a drawing attached — to Chief John Dowie.
(The lucky kids got a personal tour of the building from detectives and were even allowed to sound the sirens on the patrol cars. Which, your correspondent grumbles, she has never been permitted to do.)
Purely coincidentally, the delivery occurred shortly after National Police Week, when the nation honors the memory of law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty.
Alas, there is not enough space to quote all the letters in full, but here are a few excerpts from those written by the younger students. We have fixed a bit of the spelling:
• “If we did not have you guys we will have trouble every day but we do have police officers everywhere. And we are saved by the police officers.” — Gianni
• “Thank you for keeping us safe when we are crossing the street. Thank you for your bravery and thank you for catching people that are not good. And when I grow up I want to be a police officer for I could save lives.” — Briana
• “I am thankful for you because you keep the town safe and sound. You are very important. You protect everyone. You are a star.” — Jaddy
• “You work very hard to do this job. You are very brave to be a police. And thank you for everything.” — Carmen
• “You are the best, you are so nice, and thank you for all Kearny police officers.” — Madeline
• “Thank you for keeping our town safe from bad guys. . . . And thank you very very much for being kind to Kearny.” — Karina
• “We need you nice officers. You do so much for us. . . I’m proud that we have you.” — Joshua
And lastly:
• “Thank you for protecting our town . . . I think everybody should hug you.” — -Sheyla
