CORNELIUS, N.C. — Today in Cornelius, families were invited to cool off with a cop. The Cornelius Police Department uses this day to have fun with kids in the community and spread a positive message while they are young. It's all at the risk of getting soaked!
The annual event went off with only one call for the officers to load their water guns and report directly to the splash pad at Smithville Park. Dozens of kids were standing by, ready to attack!
Sergeant Jeff Connors works in the Community Service Division. He told NBC Charlotte, he welcomes the splash every year, but there's an even bigger motive behind just getting wet.
"Instead of the person that's always writing somebody a ticket, they are seeing that we like to have fun and that we are there for them too," Sgt. Connors said. "They can come to us whenever they need us."
That's an important lesson parents want their children to learn now. Elizabeth Sherman brought her two little ones for that reason -- to view police officers in a different light.
"If they can't ask the policeman for help who are they going to ask?" Sherman said. "This is a really great way of leveling the playing field, so when they need to interact in a difficult way, they are less reluctant to."