Greenwood police officers teamed up with Greenwood schools to make sure students stay safe as they ride the bus. Bus drivers and Lieutenant Brad Hobbs with the Greenwood Police Department boarded the bus Friday (Aug,22) for the "Cop on the Bus" program.
This school year marks the second time for the program. "This program is important for getting your children to and from school," said Chief Will Dawson with the Greenwood Police Department. "It's a nerve racking situation for parents to place their kids on buses."
Lt. Hobbs rode in the bus with the kids to school, making sure they were safe. However, he was really there to make sure there wasn't any issues with the drivers around the bus. " We want the public to know that this is a dangerous situation when passing a school bus especially when they're loading and dropping off children," said Lt. Hobbs.
This happened after Chief Dawson received several complaints last year about drivers failing to obey bus stop laws. "These are large vehicles that can't stop quickly," said Dawson. "These kids aren't seat belted in and that's a major issue if a bus were to get into an accident."
It wasn't just Lt. Hobbs who kept an eye out, he also got a little bit of help. "We place an unmarked car behind the bus to be able to track down the violator," said Dawson. "If you do violate a stop sign and lucky enough not to hurt someone, you will get a ticket from running a stop sign."
Chief Dawson said different officers will be riding on different buses throughout the school year, as part of this program.