O’Fallon brothers appointed police chiefs for a day

Two O’Fallon brothers were able to do what most kids dream of — be chief of police for a day.

Parker and Jack Wolfe were the lucky duo who took on the O’Fallon Public Safety Department, located at 285 North Seven Hills Road, in the beginning of June.

Parker, 8, and Jack, 5, were described by O’Fallon Police Chief Eric Van Hook as being very enthusiastic and tenacious.

“We were very fortunate to have Parker and Jack as our chiefs for the day. After being sworn in by Van Hook, they spent the morning learning about police work, touring the Public Safety Facility, giving raises, lifting weights, serving, protecting, and having lunch with the the former chief.

After lunch, they both took an early retirement and Van Hook was reappointed to his position, according to Misty McDonald, chief’s assistant.

“We’ve had the program for quite a while, and a couple years ago we revamped it and made it a little more available to the community,” she said.

Donations for fundraisers are called in, and that goes to the schools.

“Some use for live or silent auctions, and the winner receives a certificate and then they just contact us at the department to set up a good date,” McDonald said.

This year there was a fundraiser raffle at St. Clare Catholic School in O’Fallon.

“Awhile back, the boys’ great uncle the Rev. Jim Deiters’ sister Cathey Wolfe had won the auction item. She later shared her winning with her nephews,” Jamie Wolfe, Parker and Jack’s mother, said.

Jamie Wolfe said her boys had the time of their lives.

“They had a great time and it was really exciting for them,” she said.

Jack always says he want to be a police officer when he grows up, according to his mom.

“My favorite part was seeing all of their weapons, protective gear, like the police (riot) shields, guns and tasers,” Jack said.

But that wasn’t the only thing jazzed Jack up.

“I really loved being in the police car, too,” Jack said.

The older of the two, Parker said there was more than one thing he was stoked about.

“Seeing the jail and sitting in the cell where the bad guys go,” Parker said.

The boys were really anticipating the possibility of seeing a suspect in the jail, just to see it up close, rather than just on T.V., according to Jamie.

But, much to the dismay of the boys, the department staff advised against that for obvious safety concerns.

“I think Jack was too little to understand, but Parker still thought it was awesome to be able to sit in the cells,” Jamie said.

Another fan favorite during the day was seeing the other side of Public Safety — the 911 dispatch room and the ambulances in the Emergency Medical Service department.

“I was so cool getting hooked up to all the machines,” Parker said.

Jamie said with a laugh, “the boys were amazed at how much ‘stuff’ is in an ambulance.”

Parker said “it was awesome to see what the 911 dispatch room was like — seeing all camera (feeds) from all over town.”

Jamie said shortly after the boys had thier big day her and the boys were at the park, and the boys were waving all over hoping to be on camera, so the dispatchers could see them.

“It was really cute, they were very serious about it too,” Jamie said.

“The Police Chief for A Day is just one of our many programs that are focused on the youth of O’Fallon. This program gives the participant an opportunity to see both the police department and the emergency medical services department while interacting with officers and paramedics,” Van Hook said.

“I think the experience was a much needed one for the kids because it helps them percieve the police as not so scary, and I think being able to see the process of what happens in an emergency when a person has to call 911,” Jamie said.

Unfortunately, fear and intimidation are factors that sometimes stand out in the minds of kids when an officer in uniform is around, she said.

“It’s just so much better when kids can see officers in their uniforms and police gear in a not-so emergency situation, so they can see that they are people too just like us, they just look bigger than they do,” Jamie said.

Some of our other youth programs include Breakfast with Santa, Cones with a Cop, Cops N Kids and the Explorer Post, Van Hook said.

For more information on our youth programs, contact the O’Fallon Police Department at 618-624-4545.

This story was originally published July 20, 2016 at 11:49 AM with the headline "O’Fallon brothers appointed police chiefs for a day."