Officer Friendly is a program to acquaint
children
A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
and
young adult
In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...
s with
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
as a part of a
community relations campaign. The program was especially popular in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
from the 1960s to the 1980s, but it continues in some police departments to this day.
In 1974, the
Sears-Roebuck Foundation partnered with
John H. Coleman, Jr of the
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...
police department and Hampton City school to revise the program. Classroom kits were developed including
coloring book
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...
s, videos,
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
s, and teaching guides with activities. The classroom kits were distributed to 40 school districts throughout the United States. An original copy of the kit can be found at the Hampton Virginia History Museum.
Methods
The Officer Friendly programs most famously involved
police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
officers visiting
pre-school
A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space
Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...
and
kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
classrooms. In many parts of the United States, Officer Friendly
coloring book
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media. ...
s are distributed to children.
In popular culture
There have been many parodies of the nearly ubiquitous program. In many cases, the term "Officer Friendly" is used sarcastically to refer to an abusive police officer, or as a way of criticizing the depiction as inaccurate.
In television
*
Sketch comedy
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
show ''
SCTV'' performed a parody skit called "Officer Friendly" on November 28, 1977.
*
Rick Grimes
Richard D. "Rick" Grimes is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the post-apocalyptic comic book series '' The Walking Dead,'' the live-action television series of the same name and its franchise, in which he is portrayed by Andre ...
, a former
sheriff's deputy
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is commonly ...
in ''
The Walking Dead'', sarcastically introduces himself to
Merle Dixon
Merle Dixon is a fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portr ...
as "Officer Friendly" while handcuffing him in Season 1, episode 2 "
Guts
The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascular system. ...
", and Merle refers to him as such derisively.
In literature
* In ''
The Annihilation Score'' by
Charles Stross
Charles David George "Charlie" Stross (born 18 October 1964) is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy. Stross specialises in hard science fiction and space opera. Between 1994 and 2004, he was also an active writer for the magazine ' ...
, police officer Jim Grey develops, acting developing
superpowers
Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...
, operates as a superhero under the alias Officer Friendly.
See also
*
Community policing
Community policing is a philosophy and organizational strategy whereby law enforcement cooperates with community groups and citizens in producing safety and security. The theory underlying community policing is that it makes citizens more likely t ...
*
Police
The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
*
Copaganda
Copaganda (a portmanteau of '' cop'' and ''propaganda)'' is propaganda efforts to shape public opinion about police or counter criticism of police and anti-police sentiment.
The term is mostly used in the United States, though also in other c ...