Lakewood Police Department Officer Savannah Brown was recently featured on the Lakewood Police Department’s social media for taking initiative to support some of our most vulnerable residents: Children experiencing trauma.
Officer Brown proposed and then established a program to provide Lakewood police officers the tools they need to support children they help when called to remove them from an unsafe environment.
This is scary for children. Officers do their best to comfort them.
“Children removed from homes often have no clothing, adequate nutrition, or belongings,” said Brown. “Patrol officers often do not know how long it will take until CPS shows up. I prepacked emergency bags with a set of clothing, undergarments, snacks, toiletries and a ‘comfort’ item to help ease what can be a traumatic situation for children.”
These prepackaged emergency bags include items donated by the Lakewood Target. Earlier this month Officer Brown met with Target representatives to complete the last step in this new program: packing the bags.
Included in the bags are hand-written letters of encouragement from University of Washington Tacoma students where Officer Brown is also a student.
This program is set up to be an ongoing combined effort between Lakewood police, the Lakewood Target, Child Protective Services/Department of Social and Health Services and other community partners.
Officer Savannah Brown,
We do not know each other because you arrived at Lakewood Police after I retired.
But I must congratulate and thank you for helping Lakewood’s kids.
As a former Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy serving as a Lakewood Police Officer, I had several experiences where I was called upon to remove children from a problematic environment using our Protective Custody law.
Your ideas, efforts, and ability to collaborate with Target are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your service. You are making the world a better place.
Deputy Joseph Boyle – Retired