'Officer Copsicle' Hands Out Popsicles, Juice Boxes to Build W.Va. Community Relations

The police cruiser operated by Ross was converted into the Copsicle cruiser in July. That is when the free popsicle program was launched by the Bluefield Police Department. Since that time Ross has given away nearly a thousand popsicles to children at area events, gatherings and activities.

“Chief (Dennis) Dillow came to me and asked me if I would be interested in doing it and giving out popsicles and stuff to the kids,” Ross said. “I was kind of ecstatic to do it because that’s something that you really don’t hear about. I thought it was pretty cool to bring this to the community and get involved with the kids. It’s been a hit. You meet kids daily.”

When he isn’t giving out free popsicles and juice boxes as part of Operation Juice Box, it isn’t unusual to see Ross playing a game of basketball with neighborhood kids when the opportunity arises — whether that is at city park, the Wade Center or elsewhere. Through his work as a community servant, Ross is helping to break down barriers between law enforcement and community.

Ross, a native of McDowell County who grew up in Anawalt and later Jenkinjones, said he remembers a state trooper from McDowell County that would play basketball with children.

“He came over there and played basketball with the kids and I thought that was cool because they loved it,” Ross said. “This trooper took time out of his day and came over and played. And I looked at that and just the impact that it had on the kids down there. I was like man that would be cool. So literally ever since I’ve been up here, I’ve been doing that.”

It’s not just basketball. Ross also will play baseball and football with children as well when the opportunity arises.

“It’s just interacting,” he said. “You didn’t see a lot of people and kids interacting with the police at that time.”

It’s now not unusual for children to recognize Ross when he is off duty at Walmart, the mall or other locations.

“They recognize you and, and they feel comfortable enough to come up and talk to you,” Ross said, adding that his daughter recently told him that one of her friends in school thought they saw him out in public.

While the Bluefield Police Department has been working to promote the Copsicle Patrol and now Operation Juice Box through social media, Ross said his goal is to simply make children smile and feel more comfortable interacting with the police.

“I don’t do this for Facebook. I don’t do this for the internet,” Ross said. “Obviously they (the city of Bluefield) want to make awareness of it and then it kind of informs the community about it, but that’s not what I do it for. I can care less whether they post it on Facebook. Like I said I’ve been doing this since 2016. I do it for the kids to make them smile.”

If he is able to make one child laugh, Ross said it makes his job with the Bluefield Police Department “a lot easier.”

“You meet kids daily that probably normally wouldn’t come up to a cop,” Ross said. “But they interact (with you) and obviously love popsicles.”

Many of those popsicles that have been given out to area children since July have been donated to the Bluefield Police Department by Grant’s Supermarket, according to Ross.

The free popsicles have been given out to children at multiple locations, including at the Wade Center, the Bluefield State University picnic, Greater Mount Zion Church, at the back-to-school backpack distribution program in Princeton and at various other locations and events.

Ross has worked for the Bluefield Police Department since 2016, which is where he began his career in law enforcement. Since that time he has worked his way up the ranks to detective and sergeant.

“Actually you will always hear about people wanting to change their community, but they didn’t want to be part of it,” he said. “They didn’t want to take the initial steps to be that change in the community. So my Mom always said she wanted one of our kids to be a cop and obviously it took me a little while to get to that point. But I just wanted to make a difference. I always wanted to be a cop.”

Ross said he wanted to be a cop as early as age 18, but ended up waiting until he was older and ready to make the commitment. The Bluefield Police Department later hired him.

“I tried with several police departments in the past. I either wasn’t old enough or they wasn’t hiring or whatever, but Chief Dillow gave me a chance and I greatly appreciate it,” Ross said.

Another positive aspect of the ongoing community outreach efforts by the police department has been a reduction in crimes involving juveniles.

“We are not having as many crimes that we were having dealing with children,” Ross said. “It’s kind of like slowed down. So it’s having an impact somewhere.”

Ross believes community policing is making a difference in Bluefield.

“Community policing as we call it is where you have the opportunity to give your community a different outlook on police work all together,” he said. “Some people will say I know it’s just about taking people to jail, but at the same time it’s not. It’s about helping the community.”

Being able to interact with children makes the job a little easier for Ross.

“You want to see progress. You want to see change,” he said. “Why not work with the kids? Because that’s going to be our future anyway. So if you interact with them, try to make life better for them. It will pay off in the future. And that’s really how I look at it.”

By interacting with children, the police department also is able to improve relations with parents, according to Ross.

“We do a lot of stuff that doesn’t even get put out there, but that isn’t what we do it for,” Ross said. “And the thing is at the end of the day if I can make one person smile that makes my day. It makes my job a lot easier as far as dealing with the public and seeing a change in the community as far as dealing with these kids. That’s what it’s about.”

_____________

© 2025 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.).

Visit bdtonline.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.