Chief’s Kids Celebrate One-Year Anniversary

BY CLAIRE GALOFARO
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER

BRISTOL, Va. – Thousands of bubbles rose up to the sky Monday night in the parking lot of Rice Terrace Apartments. They came from wands held in the sticky hands of members of Chief’s Kids, a crew of children brought together every week by the Bristol Virginia Police Department and Hunt Memorial United Methodist Church. 

The one-year anniversary of the start of the club was celebrated Monday. It is a pet project of city Police Chief Bill Price, who said he’s proud of the work the children have done.

“Every time we go into a house where there are kids, the children are the ones that really pay the price,” he said of parents who are arrested. “We want to stand in the gap for these kids. We want them to know that they can be good people, good citizens.”

The aim is to teach kids in targeted neighborhoods about responsibility. Each Monday, the children earn fake dollars for showing up, wearing their bright yellow T-shirts and making good grades. They save their money to buy themselves presents at a huge Christmas sale. The church also supplies each kid with a fully stocked backpack at the start of the school year.

At first, nobody believed the group would last more than a few weeks because parents were skeptical, the kids didn’t seem interested and funding came only from church-goers.

Still, Hunt Memorial, a little congregation of around 80 members just two blocks away, bought a Ford F-150 van to pick the kids up and deliver them home again.

“We want them to know that somebody cares about them,” said Pastor Mary Minnick. “It might not change their life, but it could give it a direction. We started with a dozen kids. There are 69 enrolled now. Kids are telling kids.”

Everybody left Monday’s party with a prize. For most, it was a water gun, but one lucky boy got a new bike, donated by Crime Prevention Specialist Nicole Slagle’s 10-year-old son, Nick.

Even McGruff the Crime Dog showed up to pat them on the heads and lead a round of “Jesus Loves Me.” This McGruff had bright pink toenails and an oddly feminine voice. Karen Lowry, a member of the Hunt Memorial congregation, has bobbed inside the sweltering dog head to play the part every Monday for a year. She said she’s seen drastic changes in the children.

“It’s a big accomplishment,” Lowry said. “You can see it in their personalities. A year ago, many of them were shy, very frightened of the police. When Chief Price first walked in, we had one girl who hid under the table, who said the police came and got her dad.”

Now, the kids give Price high-fives as they file past him.

“I’m going to arrest you,” one boy said, flashing Price his stick-on junior officer badge. The police chief just grinned. 

“We want them to know that police are their friends and that if they ever have a problem, they can turn to us,” Slagle said. “A lot of times in law enforcement, it’s a struggle to reach the adults, but if you get to the children at a young age, you can give them the tools to make good decisions, to live a good life.”

A handful of parents accompany their kids. Nicole Jackson, who lives across the street, takes her 5-year-old son, Jovan, every week.

“He really looks forward to Mondays,” Jackson said. “They enjoy this, and it’s good for them. It keeps them off the streets.”

The Rice Terrace group is the second in the area. Springdale Village Apartments was the birthplace of Chief’s Kids, and remains the model for budding groups. A third spinoff will begin at Ridge Crest Town Apartments in August.

Washington County has gotten on board with a Sheriff’s Kids program, and Dickenson County has one in the works.

The kids at Rice Terrace, ranging in age from 3 to 13, sit around in flip-flops and jean shorts eating Doritos and chili dogs. The older ones cart the youngsters around.

“I come to tell God to help my family,” one fifth-grader said, batting his black eyelashes. “I ask him to get us food.”

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