Irvine Police Department pulls out all the stops to ensure students have safe routes to school

You may be noticing more police officers on bicycles around Irvine schools these days, particularly as students are being dropped off and picked up. That’s because the Irvine Police Department is making a big push to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety through the Safe Routes to School program.

Funded by a four-year federal grant, the Safe Routes to School program represents a partnership between IPD, the City’s Community Services Department and IUSD. As the name suggests, the program was designed to make sure kids are traveling safely to and from school. The Irvine Police Department has played a vital role in the effort, leading bike and pedestrian safety assemblies and conducting bicycle rodeos at Irvine's elementary and middle schools. Officers are also working to educate students and their families at the beginning and end of the school day, often presenting prizes and other incentives to those spotted modeling the safety strategies they've learned. Of course, police will also continue to enforce traffic laws around our schools, so let’s be careful out there.