Deputies handing out sheriff’s trading cards to local children

Thousands of Park County Sheriff's Office trading cards will be handed out by deputies in the coming months as part of a youth outreach effort.

As they come into contact with children during their regular duties, deputies are distributing cards that show off the office’s patrol vehicles.

Deputy Justin Kroeker presents a trading card to 6-year old Harper Baugher of Cody in this photo provided by the sheriff's office.

“This is a great way for our personnel to develop a positive relationship with children at a very young age,” Sheriff Scott Steward said in a news release. “It affords deputies an opportunity to demonstrate that law enforcement officers are their friend.”

Steward said it’s especially important given recent national events where police have been portrayed in a negative light.

His office ordered a total of 4,500 cards, which feature eight different designs. Each depicts a patrol vehicle in different settings around the county. A couple are posed next to a vintage aircraft and another features a historical 1951 Ford patrol car.

The back of each trading card lists some facts about deputies’ duties or the vehicles shown and contact information for the sheriff’s office.

One of the eight trading cards.

“The cards are currently available from any sheriff’s deputy. So if you see a deputy, feel free to have your child ask them for a card,” said Lance Mathess, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, in the release. “Or stop in at the law enforcement center (in Cody) and the sheriff’s staff will be glad to present them with a card.”

The trading cards cost the sheriff’s office $770 (about 17 cents a piece), Mathess said. The money came from a part of the budget earmarked for “community services support.”

Park County Sheriff's Office