Grand Blanc Twp officer turns traffic stop into learning experience for kids

GRAND BLANC TWP., Mich. (WNEM) - Grand Blanc Township Police are hoping to dismantle some stereotypes about officers.

A post from the township police department is gaining popularity with the community. What started as a stop for a seatbelt violation, turned into a learning experience for a mother’s children.

The police department said the officer took the time to talk to the kids about why they shouldn’t fear officers.

“Her kids had told her, when she pulled over, that she should run from me because they had heard that police hurt people,” said Grand Blanc Township police officer Devin Seeley.

So Seeley spent some time on his Independence Day shift trying to liberate these kids from their fear of law enforcement.

“I gave them a badge,” Seeley said. “I let them sit in the car, play with the lights and sirens and talked about what a police officer does. You know and they were under the impression that if you sit in the back seat of a cop car it’s always because you’re in trouble, and let them know that often times it’s really not that.”

Seeley said he saw a change almost right away.

“They were giving me high fives, fist bumps, and a couple of the younger ones said that they wanted to be a police officer,” Seeley said. “So it made me feel good that maybe I’m shaping the next generation of people that want to be police officers because we need good people that want to do this job.”

The Grand Blanc Township Police Department made a Facebook post about the interaction between Seeley and the citizens he swore to protect and serve. He hopes that someday something like this won’t get much of a reaction because everyone will realize this is what the majority of police do day in and day out.

“It’s a very rewarding career and hopefully it gets to that point where we don’t even have to post anything on social media to encourage people that we are out here doing the right thing,” Seeley said.

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