Instead Of Tickets, N.H. Police Hand Out Good-Deed Coupons

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Police in Farmington, N.H., are issuing tickets all over town. But these are tickets you might not mind getting.

CHIEF JOHN DRURY: They're for a slice of pizza or a small French fry.

MARTIN: That's Farmington Police Chief John Drury. And these tickets, or coupons really, are being handed out for good behavior.

DRURY: Someone shoveling a sidewalk or pushing a car out of a snowbank.

MARTIN: There's been lots of opportunity for that in Farmington. Chief Drury says they've had some nine feet of snow, which is actually how he got the idea.

DRURY: It had been in between all these crazy snowstorms that we've had and we've all been dealing with. And this gentleman walked down sidewalk, and he walked across the crosswalk. And he climbed over a snowbank and got into the store he was going into. And I said that gentleman needs a metal.

MARTIN: Drury decided pizza was the next best thing. And a local shop donated coupons for police to hand out.

DRURY: It's the little things that we do every day that can make a difference in people's lives. And the expression that you get when you hand somebody these is priceless.

MARTIN: Drury says it gives police a chance to engage with their community in a different kind of way.

DRURY: We got into this profession to help people. Unfortunately, sometimes, we have to help them into a pair of handcuffs.

MARTIN: But if you do someone else a favor or just do the right thing, you might get a free pizza. And even in mid-March, there are plenty of opportunities. Today's forecast for Farmington, a 90 percent chance of snow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.