Officer Friendly

Officer Friendly is a model program to acquaint children and young adults with police as a part of a community relations campaign. The program was especially popular in the United States from the 1960s to the 1980s, but it continues in some police departments.[1] Officer Friendly is generally not a specific character, and is in the public domain.

In 1974, the Sears-Roebuck Foundation partnered with John H. Coleman, Jr of the Hampton, Virginia police department and Hampton City school to revise the program. Classroom kits were developed including coloring books, videos, board games, and teaching guides with activities. The classroom kits were distributed to 40 school districts throughout the United States. An original copy of the kit can be found at the Hampton City Museum.

Methods

The Officer Friendly programs most famously involved police officers visiting pre-school and kindergarten classrooms. In many parts of the United States, Officer Friendly coloring books are distributed to children.[2]

There have been many parodies of the nearly ubiquitous program. In many cases, the term "Officer Friendly" is used sarcastically to refer to an abusive police officer, or as a way of criticizing the depiction as inaccurate.[3]

In television
  • SCTV performed a parody skit called "Officer Friendly" on November 28, 1977.[4]
  • Rick Grimes, a former sheriff's deputy in The Walking Dead, sarcastically introduces himself to Merle Dixon as "Officer Friendly" while handcuffing him in Season 1, episode 2 "Guts", and Merle refers to him as such derisively.

In literature
  • In The Annihilation Score, sixth novel of The Laundry Files, the general public begins to develop super powers through a surge in magical energy. A police officer named Jim Grey develops such powers and begins operating as a superhero under the alias "Officer Friendly".

See also

References
  1. Officer Friendly back in action ChicagoBreakingNews.com article
  2. Hampton's Officer Friendly coloring book
  3. "Debunking the Myth of Officer Friendly: How African American Males Experience Community Policing". Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 16: 209–229. May 2000. doi:10.1177/1043986200016002006. S2CID 145388818.
  4. "EPISODES: AIRDATES, Global 1977-1978: Series 1b - Second City Television". SCTV Guide.
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