At only 10 years old, Kash Platt of New Era has already found a way to make a difference in his community one police officer at a time.
For over three years now, Kash has been approaching local cops, striking up conversations, asking questions about their lives and careers and reminding them that they are appreciated.
What began as a simple question grew into a mission that Kash and his father, Kwinn Platt, call "Stop-A-Cop."
The idea began after Kash heard a group of children at school speaking negatively about police officers. Later, while working security with his father during a hockey game, Kash had a conversation with his dad that would inspire the whole project.
“I asked my dad if police officers were bad after seeing a few of them at the game,” stated Kash.
Kwinn then explained that his security job works right alongside the cops, which helped him explain to Kash that police officers are people who work to serve the community positively.
“After that, we started up,” says Kash.
The goal is to eliminate any negative stigma about law enforcement and show that they are all human beings outside of work, he explained.
When the Platts first began, it was mainly Kash getting photos with officers and Kwinn posting them to his private Facebook page. “It originally started with him getting pictures with the cops, and now he's doing interviews and kind of carrying out more than just a picture,” states Kwinn.
Now, Kash has his very own Facebook site (Stop-A-Cop by Kash Platt) with over 270 followers. “He's been going really hard these last two years since he's been getting older,” Kwinn explained.
Nowadays, Kash gives out $10 gift cards to each officer he encounters. He has recently had a few donations of cards and Stop-A-Cop t-shirts by New Era of Crafting. During the National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 4, Kash had been given 15 gift card donations and 23 t-shirts to hand out during the event.
Eventually, Kash would like to join the Marine Corps to become a military police officer while continuing to spread positivity about law enforcement.
