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Tulare County sheriff hands out 20 bikes to kids in program

By Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

cdelgado@fresnobee.com
Children in the Sheriff’s Junior Explorer Youth Development Program received new bicycles and helmets Wednesday at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office as a reward for doing well in school. Twenty bicycles were given away, but throughout the year up to 200 bicycles are given away thanks to donations from businesses and individuals.
Children in the Sheriff’s Junior Explorer Youth Development Program received new bicycles and helmets Wednesday at the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office as a reward for doing well in school. Twenty bicycles were given away, but throughout the year up to 200 bicycles are given away thanks to donations from businesses and individuals. Teresa Douglass TULARE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT

Twenty kids in Tulare County received a new bike from the sheriff’s department on Wednesday for excelling in school.

The kids are members of the Sheriff’s Junior Explorer Youth Development Program, and were rewarded with the bikes that even came with a helmet as they interacted with sheriff deputies.

“It does my heart good to see how much the deputies really care about the youth in our county,” Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said. He also invited everyone to the department’s annual holiday open house.

Every summer, the junior explorers take a camping trip to Pismo Beach and are given a holiday party every year.

The kids in the junior explorers program learn police skills like witness interviews, traffic stops and making arrests.

Junior explorers eventually interested in becoming deputies can apply for Pathways Scholarships to help pay for college and the police academy.

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado: 559-441-6304, @cres_guez

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 8:38 PM with the headline "Tulare County sheriff hands out 20 bikes to kids in program."

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