California Highway Patrol officers building special bonds with students at King Elementary School

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A connection during a Martin Luther King Junior solemnisation has sparked a concern successful Southwest Fresno.

The California Highway Patrol was inspired by Dr. King's connection to springiness backmost and is doing conscionable that astatine King Elementary.

Uniformed officers with the California Highway Patrol present caput into King Elementary School connected a play basis.

Thankfully, they're not determination to enforce the law.

They're forming friendships and bonds.

Students are anxious to accidental hello, and hugs are hurled astatine them faster than they tin support up.

California Highway Patrol Captain Austin Matulonis says officers precocious 'adopted' King Elementary School.

They've made it a play ngo to halt by field and connect.

"We conscionable wanted an accidental to bring our officers present to prosecute with the children to span trust, knowing and communicate," Captain Matulonis said.

Stickers tin beryllium the prima of the show, but Officer Mike Salas says their clip connected field goes acold beyond the high-fives.

"We're besides bringing acquisition to them. We're teaching them however to safely transverse the street. We're teaching them to deterioration their seatbelts, to archer mom, dad, grandma and grandpa to enactment that compartment telephone down erstwhile they're driving," Officer Salas said.

The payment is communal for the officers, who get a little interruption from the hardships that travel with their jobs.

King Elementary Principal Summer Gaston says the effect from students has been promising.

"They're not acrophobic to inquire questions. Some of them are amusive questions, immoderate of them are pugnacious questions and they've been capable to grip each of those and the kids decidedly respond truly good to them. They're similar rockstars connected campus," Principal Gaston said.

She says having adults different than teachers and administrators put successful the students tin permission a lasting impact.

"It does marque the students consciousness similar they're important, they're valued, they're going to beryllium listened to," Principal Gaston said.

Captain Matulonis says they cognize they're having an interaction connected students and are hoping this inaugural spreads to different instrumentality enforcement agencies and different schools crossed the Central Valley.

"I'm conscionable truly excited to spot wherever it takes america and wherever we spell from here," Captain Matulonis said.

In the meantime, officers program to instrumentality to the playground each and each Friday.

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