The Turlock Association of Police Officers is planning on helping kids get through the dog days of summer with free pool passes.
Every Turlock police officer will have passes to share with children. The passes are for a single-day admission to any City of Turlock pool for a child 17 and under. The passes can be used at Columbia Pool, Pitman High Pool and the Turlock High Pool, though the Turlock High Pool is currently closed. To ensure everyone’s safety, TAPO requests that parents keep their children a safe distance away if an officer is engaged in an active investigation or interaction with a suspect. Officers will actively engage kids and parents in the community who are modeling good safety behavior like wearing a bike helmet or crossing the street carefully.
“With temperatures this high, it is not uncommon to have kids playing in unsafe canals and swimming holes,” said Russell Holeman, president of TAPO and a 15-year veteran of the Turlock Police Department. “We want to encourage them to stay safe and healthy by swimming in lifeguard-supervised swimming pools, but not all families can afford the admission fees. That’s why TAPO invested in these pool passes — we want to give every kid in our community the chance to safely enjoy the last few weeks of summer before school starts back up again.”
Officers will also be distributing informational safety flyers on how to prevent accidents in the water as part of their ongoing “Summer of Safety” campaign.
"I am very glad to see TAPO get involved in promoting water safety," said Karen Packwood, City of Turlock Recreation senior supervisor. “Each year over 1,000 children die from drowning in the United States. That’s why it’s so important that children have access to a safe place to swim in the summer. I encourage parents to talk about swim safety with officers as they’re out in the community – being better informed could save your child’s life.”
To download free copies of the Summer of Safety information sheets, including the flyer on swim safety, visit: http://turlockpolice.org/
To view the Summer of Safety social media campaign, visit: https://www.facebook.com/turlockassociatedpolice
