POSITIVE TICKETS, POWERFUL IMPACT

In Lake Forest, rewarding good behavior is just the beginning. Police are also building trust, encouraging safety, and redefining community connection.

Deputy Chief Kevin Zelk loves nothing more than seeing kids outside, riding their bikes and enjoying their summer in Lake Forest. So why are so many of these same kids begging for a ticket from him? “

The kids in our community are really smart,” laughs Zelk when asked about the wildly popular Positive Tickets Program. “They’re being told by their parents that the police are out there looking for good behavior, so they’re not shy about coming up and asking if we have a good ticket.”

Indeed, in partnership with the Lake Forest Police Foundation, the recently reinstated and much-loved Positive Tickets Program recognizes Lake Forest youth who demonstrate responsible behavior.

“It’s not just about getting a free scoop of ice cream,” says Zelk, who has been with the Lake Forest Police Department for nearly 20 years. “It’s about having a positive interaction with the police.”

From wearing a bicycle helmet to walking their e-scooter through Lake Forest’s always bustling Central Business District, the goal of the Positive Tickets Program is to ultimately encourage children and teens to do the right thing.

“Anytime a police officer walks up to anybody, there can always be that momentary skipping of a beat of your heart,” laughs Zelk. “But for the most part, the Positive Tickets allows us to have a great interaction between our officers and the youth of this community. The minute you tell them that, ‘hey, you did something right and I’m going to give you a free slice of pizza or a coupon for a scoop of ice cream,’ they immediately light up.”

But while the Positive Tickets Program brings a lot of smiles to resident’s faces, it also serves a bigger purpose by building trust and creating positive moments between kids and local police.

And that feels more important than ever these days.

“There are a lot of scooters and electric powered bicycles being ridden by kids in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff, and some of these bikes are very powerful and fairly fast,” explains Lake Forest Police Chief John Burke. “We don’t want to come at this and make it a negative experience. We just want to urge safety. If they’re going down the sidewalk at, let’s say 18 miles an hour, and somebody’s walking the same direction they are and they whiz by them, it could be a tragedy in the making. We don’t want to see anybody get injured.”

Chief Burke believes this is part of a much bigger conversation that needs to start at home. “Most of these kids do not know the rules of the road,” he explains. “It hasn’t been introduced to them at this point, but it’s a discussion that the parent should really have with their kids. It’s all about being good neighbors.”

“The safety within the community is not just a police department responsibility,” adds Zelk.

Of course, the Positive Tickets Program couldn’t flourish without the support of multiple businesses in the community such as Donati’s Pizza Inc., Sweets of Lake Forest, and The Peanut Gallery––as well as support from various members of city government.

“The program itself has a hundred percent support from the mayor, city council, the city manager –– all the different entities within the city,” concludes Chief Burke. “They’ve also talked about what else can we do since this program has been so successful.”

With strong support from local businesses, city leadership, and the community at large, the Positive Tickets Program has proven that small gestures can make a big difference. By celebrating good behavior and fostering positive relationships between officers and young residents, this beloved initiative continues to make Lake Forest’s streets a little safer and its community a little stronger—one positive ticket at a time.