Driving down the street, one of the last things you want to see is a police car with its lights flashing, signaling for you to pull over. But drivers in the Texas town of Taft were randomly being selected to be stopped.
On the Friday before Christmas week, Taft officers were busy handing out tickets to unsuspecting drivers. Sound worrisome? It was in the beginning for these folks too, and their nerves were getting the best of them until police explained what they were doing.
As a gesture of Christmas cheer and generosity, the town’s cops were handing out holiday cards and lottery tickets to everyone they pulled over. It was a shocking surprise to anxious drivers who didn’t know whether or not they did something wrong.
Smiling officers handed the cards out which each contained a lottery scratcher and a message of season’s greetings from the Taft Police Department. To make it even sweeter, young passengers were gifted with either a bag of candy or a Whataburger gift card.
For officers, it was a welcome change of pace with not having to cite people for traffic violations or chase after wrongdoers. Instead, they spent time stuffing envelopes for a merry reason.
Earlier this month, the department made a big push for the community to donate toys for their toy drive. Each year in late December, the city – along with the help of the police department – throws a parade and hands out gifts to all the children along the route.
More items are given to kids in the area and surrounding county, and that includes toys, clothing, and shoes for those in need. In an effort to boost and spread goodwill with the public, the police partnered with the local school district and other community organizations to give back to the town.
This time of year, police departments across the country are doing good deeds in their communities. Many take underprivileged children shopping for holiday gifts, while others donate to struggling families or victims of burglaries and other crimes.
And the Taft Police Department is not the only one getting in on the lottery fun. An Illinois city did the same thing this year for drivers and pedestrians following the rules. Officers and city employees donated their own money to purchase the state scratch-off lotto tickets to hand out to citizens.
They too want to build positive relationships with the residents of their city. As with Taft, people loved it! Check out this video to see the reactions of drivers surprised by the Taft officers’ Christmas goodies.
We’re not sure if anyone has won big, but the idea of getting this type of ticket from the police is gift enough. It’s way better than dropping a wad of cash on the next Mega Millions or Powerball drawing. All one has to do is stay on the right side of driving laws!
How would you respond to being pulled over and given such a “ticket”? Did your town do something like this for the holidays?
