BATESVILLE, Ind. -- It’s not the usual lunch break for police officers.
The Lunch On Us program allows any officer, trooper or deputy to stop into any Batesville school to eat lunch with the students.
Officer Trevor Comer said he enjoys the program because it gives him the opportunity to talk to students about what his day is like.
“Typical day is answering calls, it can be from simple somebody locked themselves out of their car, to an accident, to … getting into drug issues,” Comer said.
Batesville High School junior Callie Main said the program’s importance goes beyond small talk.
"One thing we talked about is breaking down the barriers between officers and students and allowing them to get familiar with each other and that way if they have different problems or different things they want to talk about, then they feel comfortable going up to these officers,” Main said.
The program is two-fold. Any increased police presence adds an extra sense of security for the building. It also allows officers to get to know some of the young adults in the community.
"They're a lot smarter than when I was in high school,” Deputy Bryan Redick said. “They got stuff figured out, what they want to do. It's really good."
