Minnesota “Kid Cop” directs traffic near his house

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Since he was four years old, Thomas Maertens, now 6, knew he wanted to be a police officer.

It all started when a Mankato police officer visited his preschool.

“The Y preschool, once I got to see the pop tires thing, and I really liked it, that’s why I wanted to be a police officer when I grew up,” said Thomas.

But this summer he took it a step further - by directing traffic in his neighborhood.

“It’s making people safe,” he said.

Thomas’ mom, Crystal Maertens, says it started when her son noticed a lot of cars running the stop sign.

“For a while, he just got a bucket and sat on it,” said Crystal, “and when people ran the stopsign he’d say ‘slow down, slow down!’ Eventually he asked if he could go stand by the stop sign and ask people to stop, and we said he could do that.”

“They’re gonna get arrested,” said Thomas.

Thomas says he will continue to direct traffic in the winter.

He has also had the opportunity to meet several Mankato police officers - and his mom says they’ve encouraged his dream.

“They’ve been so kind and always willing to stop and talk with Tom and answer his questions,” said Crystal. “It’s just been incredible seeing his passion develop because of that.”

There’s no doubt that Thomas, like so many kids, thinks police officers are awesome. But it’s also about a kid looking up to the protectors of the community...so much that he wants to be one himself.

“We’ve watched a lot of Mr. Rogers together since he was little, and one of the things Mr. Rogers talks about is looking for the helpers,” said Crystal, “and so that was something we started doing in the community was looking for people who were helping.”

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