Grand Blanc Police Officer Turns Traffic Stop Into a Positive for Local Kids

What started out as a routine traffic stop in Grand Blanc Township turned into a positive learning experience for one local family, thanks to a compassionate police officer.

The Grand Blanc Township police department shared the story on its Facebook page, where it gathered hundreds of comments and shares.

It Began With a Traffic Stop

Officer Devin Seeley made the traffic stop on the Fourth of July, telling WNEM-TV that the kids in the car had advised their mom to run because they fear police officers.

“Her kids had told her, when she pulled over, that she should run from me because they had heard that police hurt people,” Seeley tells the TV station in the video below.

 

Officer Shines a Positive Light on Police Work

Seeley knew that he had to try to change the kids' minds and dispel some of the stereotypes associated with police officers.

“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 oftentimes it’s really not that.”

Seeley goes on to say that he was able to make a positive impression on the kids in the car.

“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.”

He adds that being a police officer is a rewarding career and that he hopes to convince more and more people that his priority is helping people in the community.