These cops' motto should be "To protect and to serve ... pizza."
Officers from the Denver Police Department in Colorado are stopping citizens -- but not for the reason you may think. The cops have been handing out $10 pizza gift cards with "you got caught doing something right" to people who have been seen obeying the law or helping others.
The initiative, which launched late last month, is to show that good deeds don't go unnoticed.
"Doing the right thing is something that a lot of times people don’t get acknowledged for,” Police Chief Robert White said, according to CBS4.
According to the department's YouTube page, a total of 500 gift cards will be handed out by officers on patrol in downtown Denver on foot, Segway and bike. Actions like using a crosswalk or lending a hand to a stranger will be rewarded, 9News reported. White said that the initiative, which is sponsored by Alpine Bank and Papa John's Pizza, is part of the city's Heads Up program, which aims to promote pedestrian and driver safety, CBS4 reported.
Pizza is a darn good reward for doing the right thing, so it's not surprising to see that other police departments have employed such fun initiatives in the past. Officers in Farmington, Maine, gave out gift cards for pizza and fries to citizens who followed simple laws in a program earlier this year. Farmington Police Chief Jay Drury said that the program's done a lot more than just cheer people up.
“This has been such a great way to get my officers out there, meeting people they wouldn’t usually talk to,” he told HuffPost in March. “It’s been a nice to look for the good in people.”
To learn more about the initiative, watch the video below:
Also on HuffPost:
Try: Giotto Maestro della Pizza, known for being an authentically Italian oasis on the hot Miami streets.
Try: The Parlor, named one of Food Network's top spots for a cross-country pizza road trip.
Try: Buona Forchetta, where the meat-covered pizzas and twinkly-lit patio will cause your heart to melt along with the cheese.
Try: Pizza Rock, an appropriately wild-looking spot that "takes pizza to the next level."
Try: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, in the city's quaint Little Italy.
Try: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, which is routinely hailed as home to one of the best pizzas in the country.
Try: Giordano's, one of the top contenders in Chicago's age-old pizza rivalry.