On Friday, 11 June, Senior Constable Darren Hewitt from Gympie District Crime Prevention was officially appointed the St Patrick’s Primary School Adopt-a-Cop in Gympie.
Senior Constable Hewitt said that he has been involved with the school for the last five years as a parent, but is now wanting to further his role within the St Patrick’s School community as the official Adopt-a-Cop.
“The Adopt-a-Cop program was implemented in 1985 to build and foster positive relationships between police and members of the school community,” Senior Constable Hewitt said.
“The program is an integral part of policing and positively contributes to police partnerships with the community.
“Currently there are almost 1000 Adopt-a-Cop’s performing duty in over 1100 Queensland schools.
“The benefits of the program include the enhanced safety and well-being of children through education, positive attitudes of children towards police and the community, the encouragement of law-abiding behaviour, increased community satisfaction with the Queensland Police Service (QPS), greater community support of the QPS and the professional development of police officers.”
St Patrick’s Primary School acting principal, Rachelle Gibson, said they were privileged and excited at St Patrick’s Primary School to have Adopt-a-Cop, Officer Darren.
“We aim to provide engaging and meaningful learning experiences for all our students,” she said.
“Officer Darren contributes to this by attending school assemblies and providing fantastic road safety lessons for our students.
“We are always delighted when he pops in to say hello to our students and staff.
“Our parent community also like the caring nature and positive attitude he brings when visiting our students.
“This relationship provides a positive connection for our students with local police officers, strengthens our partnership with the wider community and most importantly, helps to keep our students safe.
“We are truly thankful for the role Officer Darren plays in our school and the partnership we have nurtured with the local police,” she said.
“Thank you, Officer Darren!”
