"They want to play with us!" Janesville police turn routine call into street hockey game



JANESVILLE -- A video of Janesville police officers playing street hockey with kids has gone viral. One mother thought the kids were in trouble, until the officers picked up some hockey sticks.

"Oh great. They are going to be in trouble for playing hockey," Hailley Jester said.

That's what Jester thought when she saw police near her Janesville home. Instead, a shared love of hockey turned a routine call into a pickup hockey game for the officers.

"As soon as they came up, my son came running in. He was like, 'they want to play hockey with us. Get Skylar,'" Jester said.

Janesville police officers decided to take a unique approach when it came to handling some kids playing hockey in the middle of the street.

"I think we both probably played street hockey growing up, and it probably would have have left them with a different feeling if we would have just yelled at them and told them to get out of the street," Sgt. Jimmy Holford with the Janesville Police Department said.

So officers decided to grab some sticks and join in on the fun.

"They were just outside playing and the cops came up and blocked off the street and jumped out and started playing with them," Jester said.

"We did have to tell them to move, but we figured may be it would soften the blow a little bit if we played a game with them first," Sgt. Holford said.

Police did eventually do their job, but not before a little fun that made a lasting impression on these kids.

"It makes me feel like they are good people and they try to reach out to the community," Jester said.

"Thank you -- and I hope you guys try to rematch us," Orion Jester said.