Emmaus Police Chief Charles Palmer believes area residents are never too young to see the friendly side of a police officer.

Palmer welcomed 15 Active Learning Center youngsters and their chaperones to the borough’s police station Jan. 9 for an inside look at the facility. Active Learning Center is located about a block-and-a-half west of the department’s Jubilee Street headquarters. The visit capped a weeklong learning module about how police officers are there to help everyone in the community. Many of the youngsters wore junior deputy badges they had fashioned from cardboard and aluminum foil as part of the education module.

Teacher Dawn Byrd said the visit was part of the police community appreciation ethic the school was trying to instill in the preschool and kindergarten-age youngsters. A chaperone presented a container of cupcakes for station personnel at the beginning of the visit.

Palmer kept his tour age-appropriate, with highlights including a visit inside a holding cell in the station. Palmer kept the door ajar so the heavy “clunk” of a latching cell door would not create a negative impression of incarceration.

The youngsters also enjoyed seeing the bicycle and motorcycle patrol units in the station’s adjoining garage. Having been a former motorcycle patrol officer in the borough, Palmer knew the roar and flashing lights of the Harley Davidson patrol unit would impress the students.

After showing officers working in their station work areas, Palmer took the youngsters into the conference room where the photo prop cutout was stored and all enjoyed teachers recording their visit to the station on cellphones and computer tablets.

Emmaus Police Department Dispatcher Cindy Pandl said she was delighted to see the visitors from the nearby learning center.

“You don’t often see the innocence and joy of youngsters coming through that door,” Pandl said. “The expressions on the faces of too many people show they’re here for more serious business.”