Thursday, October 1, 2026
As police departments around the country continue to search for ways to develop trust and connect with the younger generation, the Village of Freeport has found a solution with the Adopt-a-Cop program.
Throughout the year, the program allows police officers to directly engage with fourth grade students in their classrooms, allowing children to develop connections with officers, hopefully long before they ever need to dial 911. Each fourth grade classroom in the village is assigned one or more police officers through the initiative
More than 400 students from all six elementary schools in the village gathered at the Freeport Recreation Center on June 10 to hear about the program as the Freeport Police Department showcased their different resources.
The exhibit featured the mounted unit with police officers on horseback, the Emergency Services Unit, an ambulance, a tow truck, crane and different police vehicles, all of which the students were able to interact with.
The experience for the students goes beyond just exploring the different exhibits, officials said. The goal is to build trust, create understanding and show children that police officers are mentors, protectors and positive role models within the community.
Sgt. Corey Cooke of the Freeport Police Department emphasized the growth of the program over the years.
“It’s been going on for well over 25 years, and it’s grown significantly,” Cooke explained. “It originally started out with one school, and now it’s (at) every elementary school in the village.”
Cooke added that the program “forces a good relationship with the students and the police department. When these individuals grow up, they have a familiar face within the village, and they are not a stranger.”
Many local leaders in Freeport attended the June 10 event, including Mayor Robert Kennedy, who explained why Adopt-a-Cop remains a priority for the community.
“They get to meet the police officers at a young age,” he said. “It develops a great relationship between the younger generation and our police officers. You have less problems. The students are very happy to be hanging out with the police, and the police are having a good time with our children.”
During the event, students were able to see and interact with many police resources, such as the patrol cars that the students were allowed to sit inside, and the mounted unit with the horses that the students were able to pet. The students also heard different officers speak about the purpose of each resource.
However, this year, some new additions were featured. “The drone is new technology we have, and this year the tow truck company wanted to showcase their abilities with the crane,” Assistant Chief of the Freeport Police Department Donnie Ethier said.
While many teachers and students in the village experienced the different amenities and resources that the police department has to offer, Jenna Tucciarone, a Bayview Elementary School teacher, explained more about the impact that the program has on the students and community.
“I think it forms trust between the students and the police, and they get a better understanding of what the Freeport police do,” Tucciarone said. “They (the students) asked us before we came here, wondering what they were going to see. We explained to them that they don’t just patrol in a car. You would see a marine section, a horse, or a dog. It helps the students learn more about what they do and establish more trust.”
Another Bayview teacher, Marissa Keenan, also spoke about the importance of the event and program as a whole.
“The Adopt-a-Cop program has a positive impact on our students,” she said. “It gets them really a better understanding of what our police officers do in our community.”
Mayor Kennedy said he wanted the students to learn something even deeper than just what each police resource does. He expressed hope that the students would “develop that relationship with the police department, who are here to help these residents and the kids. We want to make that relationship better, so in the future they trust the police and want to be with the police.”
