BAINBRIDGE, GA (WTXL) - In Bainbridge, officers try to do more than just enforce the law and after a local infant was burned in an accident, they enlisted the help of their youth program to make sure the baby was able to continue recovering once he got home.
The "Kids 'N Kops" program is designed as a way for Bainbridge Public Safety (PBS) officers to interact with the community and "...[let] them know we're not their enemies," as Officer Kenneth Ellison puts it.
"Kids that are victimized, they won't approach the police officers because they're more afraid of the police officers than they are of continuing to be victimized", said Captain David Cutchin. "And we want to stop that."
For nearly a year now "Kids 'N Kops" has been striving to do just that. The program ranges from free lunch days to days where kids can play with public safety officers.
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And earlier this week, "Kids 'N Kops" worked to help a woman and her grandson after the 15-month-old knocked over a pot of boiling water and suffered 2nd degree burns.
Following the accident, the infant was sent to Shands for skin grafts and has been there recovering since.
But officers knew that coming home may have made healing more difficult. The room the child slept in didn't have a working air conditioning unit and officers say that if the baby were left sweating from the summer heat, it could slow his recovery.
"I didn't realize how hot these apartments are upstairs," said Cutchin.
That's when he enlisted the help of "Kids 'N Kops" to first, find a merchant that could donate an AC unit, and then install it.
Now when the baby returns home he can be safe and cool; something his grandmother, Cassandra Davis, is grateful for.
"I was so happy and relieved to know that he was helping, that the police department was helping," she said.
Captain Cutchin says that for a police officer, the job is more than just enforcing the law, it also involves caring about the city they protect.
Cutchin has worked as an officer for 27 years and says he has seen a lot of area children grow up in that time,"...when somebody is really having a hard time, they need help and I'm glad that we can help them."
"In a time of need, when you need protection, they [are] there", said Davis. "When you need help, they [are] there."
