Police and fire fighters partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters

Big Brothers and Big Sisters isn’t always able to match kids up with someone right away, sometimes there is a waiting list.

This week Abbotsford firefighters and police officers will be taking some of those kids on outings as part of the Heroes program.

Constable Ian MacDonald says they want kids to see police in a positive light, because sometimes parents use police as a sort of punishment threat.

“They will suggest that if kids don’t behave they’re going to bring them down to the police station, or they’re going to pull a cop aside and tell them to put their kid in jail. And our point of emphasis is we want interactions with the police to be positive.”

MacDonald says officers day to day work can be hard on them sometimes and spending time with kids like this is a big highlight.