Officers from the V.I. Police Department on St. Thomas visited the Tutu Head Start program, creating a positive experience for the roughly 70 children in the program.

“It’s all part of our outreach, we want to establish good relationships with the children so we can be a constant, positive presence in their lives,” said School Resource Officer Roy Chesterfield.

Chesterfield spoke to nine boys and a girl – ages four and five – in one classroom while his partner, Crime Prevention Officer Adrian Huggins, spoke to a larger group of three- to five-year-olds in an adjoining classroom.

Chesterfield emphasized a positive message while using the visual aid of police handcuffs to show what happens if you have bad behavior.

“These (handcuffs) are used for bad people," he said. "But you are not bad, you are good.”

He had the children repeat several times “I am not bad I am good, handcuffs will never be used on me.”

In the connecting classroom wide-eyed tots paid close attention to what Officer Huggins was saying. The officer was detailing scenarios that some of these little one know too well.

“If you hear gunshots, go down to the floor and go to a safe place in your home. Have mommy or daddy tell you where a safe place is,” he said.

Most of the youngsters said they have heard gunshots in their neighborhood. Huggins told the children to repeat after him “Just say no to guns” and encouraged positive reinforcement with “I will grow up to be a positive person,” “I am somebody” and “I am a good person.”

Chesterfield and Huggins said they talk to students at their schools several times a month