Cops & Kids Community Bike program receives $25K Grant

(ABC 6 News) – The Rochester Police Department is receiving a $25,000 grant to expand the Cops & Kids Community Bike Program.

RPD in partnership with the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) was one of three agencies awarded funding from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF) to help youth in low-income communities stay safe while walking, biking and scooting.

RPD created the Cops & Kids Community Bike Program in 2018 to foster positive interaction between officers and children and improve bicycle safety. That summer officers distributed 42 helmets to children who needed them.

Chief Jim Franklin shares, “The Cops & Kids Community Bike Program is an innovative initiative that combines community engagement and public safety. This grant will help the program have a greater impact as it enters its fifth year.”

Here are a few of the ways RPD plans to use the funding:

• To train Cadets and Explorers on pedestrian, bike, scooter and skateboard safety practices so they can educate young people at community events.
• To purchase safety gear to distribute at community events.
• To create a multi-lingual public service announcement to promote micromobility safety.

The Colorado Highway Safety Office and the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety were the other GHSA grant recipients.

More information about GHSA is available here. More information about NRSF is available here.