Officer to read at Barnes & Noble
Ben Godar
A Burbank Police officer who will to read to children today at Barnes
& Noble Booksellers hopes they look at police as their friends.
Officer Tony Faggiano of the Juvenile Bureau will read “Police
Officers” by Paulette Bourgeois at 11 a.m. The story explains the
various tasks police officers do and presents children with a series
of safety tips.
The most important safety tip for children to remember is what to
do when approached by a stranger, Faggiano said. Despite the number
of times they have heard the message, he said many children still
think dangerous strangers will always look like bad people.
“I try to communicate to them that these people could look like
very nice people,” he said.
Today’s event goes hand-in-hand with programs like DARE, in which
Faggiano said officers are trying to gain the trust of young people.
Unless children meet real police officers, he said their image of
police is formed primarily by the sometimes negative images they see
on television.
“The majority have positive feelings toward police, but a few are
a little afraid,” he said. “I try to get down to their level and talk
to them as if I was talking to one of my own kids.”
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is at 731 N. San Fernando Blvd. For
more information, call 558-1383.