Vacaville Officer Using Stickers For School Outreach - And Students Are Loving It
VACAVILLE (CBS13) – A police officer is going above and beyond the call of duty for his students.
"This is the last sticker," Officer Dale Hougg told a group of middle schoolers on Thursday.
Hougg has been on the force for 18 years, but it's his first on campus. For him, the stickers are a way to forge bonds and keep his students learning.
"Being a new officer, it's awkward. The kids don't know you," he said.
So on his first day of school, he started handing out Vacaville Police Jr. badge stickers.
"It just turned into this thing where I can't keep them away from me. They thirst for knowledge," he said.
Everyone now wants one, but it has to be earned and 12-year-old Diego Morales is going above the curve.
"I had to up my game because I kept running out of questions for him, so I had him look up amendments of the constitution," he said.
Diego did a lot more than just look them up.
"He decided to write the Bill of Rights out for me," Hougg said.
He believes it's more than just a history lesson, but he hopes to gain the students trust even if that means teaching them one president at a time.
"Can you tell me who the 16th President of the United States is?" he asked one student.
"It's Abraham Lincoln," answered 7th grader Kalia Macklin.
"These kids are getting bombarded with, 'Hate the police. The police are your enemy.' The only way we're going to hold onto this generation is to get out and help them, we're their friend," Officer Hougg said.
Never knowing a simple sticker would do just that.
"It's turned into everybody wants to play trivia games with me at school. It's awesome," he said.
Even inspiring kids like Diego to be just like him.
"I want to be a police officer," Diego said. "Because I think they're cool and they help a lot of people."
For students who also go above and beyond, Officer Hougg hands out Slurpee coupons.
Needless to say, he's running out of his own funds and now the Vacaville Police Department is helping him keep the good deeds going.
