Why police in one town are giving out Christmas gifts instead of tickets
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When a Lowell, Michigan, woman rolled down the window after a routine traffic violation, she expected a ticket. Instead, a police officer made her Christmas shopping a little bit easier.
鈥淕ot all your Christmas shopping done?鈥 he asks in a YouTube video released Tuesday.
鈥淣o, haven鈥檛 even started.鈥
Lego Friends, an electric scooter 鈥 Scot VanSolkema, the officer who pulled her over, radioed her children鈥檚 holiday wishes to a team in a local department store, who bought the items. Officer VanSolkema returned to the car with the gifts, and the woman was incredulous.
As demonstrations nationwide protest a grand jury鈥檚 decision to not indict the New York police officer who killed Eric Garner, an unarmed black man, the video shows citizens鈥 positive interactions with officers.
Detective Gordy Lauren, who distributed gifts, says he hopes the video combats negative stereotypes of police officials.
鈥淗opefully people don鈥檛 think that we鈥檙e putting out a feel-good story out there to squash what鈥檚 going on down south,鈥 Detective Lauren says. 鈥淏ut hopefully people can understand that there is a softer side of law enforcement.鈥
Lauren notes that in most interactions with police, citizens are at a low point in their lives 鈥 at a traffic stop or reporting crime, for example.
Gift recipients will remember a positive interaction like this, he says.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping that this will stick with them and they鈥檒l realize there is a lighter side of law enforcement,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e there to help the community. We don鈥檛 do it for the money, the glory, or being on the news 鈥 we do it to help people.鈥
He calls surprising would-be ticket recipients 鈥渁wesome,鈥 especially because many are very anxious as they interact with police.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 know how to react, especially if they鈥檝e never been encountered by police before,鈥 he says.
When they expect a ticket and receive an iPad, he says, 鈥渢hat blows them away.鈥
UP, an entertainment network that distributes inspirational videos, paid for the gifts and filmed the video in late November as part of its #upliftsomeone campaign. Officers pulled over 50 drivers for the video, .
Lori Hall, UP鈥檚 vice president of consumer marketing, says the company spent between $7,000 and $10,000 on gifts.聽
With 鈥渢urmoil鈥 surrounding recent demonstrations, Ms. Hall says, the video shows that officers 鈥渁re there to uplift people in their community.鈥
The video was created by Rob Bliss, whose company releases videos that aim to go viral. Earlier this fall, the company put out a video called 鈥10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman,鈥 which showed a woman being harassed on the street.
鈥淲hile we don鈥檛 encourage minor traffic violations, it鈥檚 important for police departments to take the time to show their citizens just how much they care,鈥 a note at the end of the video reads.聽