LIVE: Badges of Unity

Connecting kids and police can keep children safer, and you safer, too.

It’s a program launched under the previous presidential administration that the region’s biggest police force says is really starting to see results in the metro.

It’s the “Badges of Unity” police youth outreach program at the Fargo Police Department, and it’s designed to put our city’s kids in contact with police officers in a way that’s positive, familiar and supportive.

The city-related charity’s been going for a few years, and one of its most recognizable faces, to both kids and our viewers alike, is Officer Michael Bloom.

Bloom says his time with the department has allowed him to connect with kids in all kinds of circumstances.

Some have run into legal trouble. Some are overachievers. Some are just showing up for the public events the program puts on.

But those contacts give Bloom and other officers a chance to connect one-on-one with kids and stay in contact with them to show them police can be allies and resources.

It’s also showing the potential to attract future graduates to a career in the law, Bloom said.

Bloom sat down for a live in-studio interview with the Morning Show’s Emily Welker to talk about what the program’s doing and why it’s worth making a donation for Giving Hearts Day.