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Making the best of a bad situation

If we had to take a guess, we’re betting no one enjoys traffic tickets — certainly not those receiving them and probably not officers who are writing them, who would likely rather do more important things than lecture already-perturbed people for 20 minutes about why the speed limit isn’t “just a suggestion” and that when the sign says “stop” that means “stop” and not “briefly tap your brakes as you make the turn.”

Even though that process can be unpleasant, the police department of a northern Pennsylvania city has decided to take an interesting approach this holiday season.

The St. Marys City Police Department began its “Cops for Kids” program Monday. Rather than giving out a ticket for minor traffic violations, officers will instead hand offending drivers a flyer asking for donations of new, unwrapped toys to be dropped off at the police station.

Participation is voluntary — even those who haven’t been pulled over or even have a driver’s license can join in and those who were pulled over and don’t donate will still escape a ticket — and the toys will be donated to Project Gifts for Elk County, an organization that helps children in need.

And before anyone asks, this does not mean that police will refrain from writing any tickets between now and Christmas. It simply means that minor violations will be overlooked for those who are not otherwise a danger to society.

What a wonderful way to spread holiday cheer — the driver is spared a fine and local kids who otherwise wouldn’t have much this Christmas or Hanukkah get to experience the excitement of a brand new toy.

Often, the police can be seen as adversarial. People may feel as though law enforcement is picking on the “little guy” when there are so many “real criminals” out there to be caught.

It’s times like these that we can see that our men and women in law enforcement are public servants who just want to make their communities better and safer.

We’re not hoping that people passing through St. Marys over the next six weeks suddenly become terrible drivers, but do wish that this program is a wild success and spawns others like it in communities across the state and country.

Because nothing makes the holiday season more special than making a kid’s dream come true.

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