Methuen Police Officers gave rides to students in the department’s pink cruiser, “Hope,” during the last weeks of school. (Courtesy photograph.)
Methuen Police used its pink “Cruiser of Hope” to give students and parents rides to school during the final weeks of the school year.
The pink cruiser was introduced a year ago to raise awareness for breast cancer. On any given day, the cruiser is parked in front of the Methuen High School and Methuen’s grammar schools, and school resource officers share the duty of taking the car on assigned days.
“The Methuen Police Department is always coming up with new and creative ways to get involved with the community,” Mayor Stephen N. Zanni said. “In this case, the School Service Unit is going above and beyond their normal duties to develop positive relationships with young students and their parents.”
Students and parents who have seen the cruiser around the city recently approached Methuen Police about the possibility of taking a ride in “Hope.” Interested students were selected by officers to ride to school in the pink cruiser with their parent for morning drop-off. The city expects to expand this program during the upcoming school year to give more students and parents the opportunity to ride in the special cruiser.
“These rides to school are a way for us to interact with the community, but also to spread the kind message of what this car represents,” Police Chief Joseph E. Solomon said. “We have received so much positive feedback on our pink cruiser, and we are happy to be able to continue to share it with our residents on a more personal level.”