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Complaint leads to game between officers and kids

Team effort

OBSERVER Photos by Anthony Dolce Kravitz and Robinson are presented with their basketball, as well as homemade signs from the kids at Greenacres Apartments.

When Fredonia police officers Dylan Robinson and Ben Kravitz showed up to a noise complaint at Greenacres Apartments on a recent Saturday night, they expected to handle a routine call.

What they found instead was a group of kids outside playing Four Square on the sidewalk. Kravitz said there was no way he was going to scold the kids for playing outside.

“I saw all these young kids out here playing, and I said, ‘I’ll be darned, I’m not going to yell at them for being noisy,” Kravitz told the OBSERVER. “They’re outside playing, enjoying the nice weather, not causing trouble, just playing outside. I’m not going to tell them to go inside.”

And so, the kids continued to play, but now with two extra participants: Kravitz and Robinson.

“We showed up that night and there were a lot of kids out here,” Robinson said. “We got out and they asked us if we wanted to play. It’s been many years since I played Four Square.”

Officers Ben Kravitz, left, and Dylan Robinson break in their new basketball with a game of Four Square against the kids at Greenacres Apartments.

Robinson and Kravitz both jumped in and played with the kids at Greenacres Apartments. For both the kids and officers, the experience was definitely rewarding.

“They all loved it, they were so thankful,” Kravitz said. “They didn’t realize how cool cops were. With everything going on in the world, it’s nice. We need that kid interaction. We’re here to help the kids, it’s important to build that rapport.”

The gratitude from the kids spilled into the next week. Greenacres property manager Rachel Braidich invited the officers back to the complex on Wednesday afternoon, where they were presented with a basketball signed by all of the kids who live at Greenacres Apartments. Following that gift, Robinson, who was on his day off, and Kravitz got to join in for another game of Four Square, this time breaking in the ball they had just been gifted.

“This was the highlight of the year for me I’d say,” Kravitz said. “I love opportunities like this to interact with the kids.”

While something like this doesn’t happen very often, Kravitz said that when he sees kids playing, he makes a point to stop and play with them when he can.

“It’s a very rewarding part of the job,” he said.

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