LIVE OAK — The Live Oak Police Department hopes to start handing out tickets that local residents want to receive.

As part of its community policing push, the LOPD will begin today to join the Live Oak Rocks community by hiding rocks painted with law enforcement designs for residents to find.

Once found, the rocks can be brought to the station in return for a “ticket,” in this case, a certificate for a free ice cream at Dairy Queen.

“It will introduce them to the police and also let us have an opportunity to talk to them, to show that there are all kinds of sides to law enforcement,” LOPD Chief Buddy Williams said, thanking the Live Oak Dairy Queen for its support of LOPD’s community policing. “It’s just to try and build a bond, give the kids something to do and have a little fun in the process.

“Be the only ticket I’m sure that they’d like to receive.”

Williams said the idea hit him a couple months ago during a lunch at Ken’s Bar-B-Que.

While dining, he found a painted rock in a window sill and he soon became a follower of the Live Oak Rocks community.

“It shows all these folks that are painting rocks and hiding them all over town and putting clues where they’re at,” he said.

The idea to start a “Cops Rock” offshoot soon followed.

“I watched this work a little bit, and I got to thinking that would be a neat community policing thing to do,” Williams said adding that a friend painted the law enforcement-related rocks for the LOPD. “And call it ‘Cops Rock.’”

The LOPD will begin hiding the rocks today, Williams said with day shift officers dropping a few off in various locations around town. He will then post clues to Facebook.

“Hopefully, somebody will rush out to find them,” he said. “And then we can start meeting these kids and adults.

“It’s a pretty neat little idea. It’s safe fun, good fun and gives the kids an activity they wouldn’t have to do any other time.”

It’s also an activity that the LOPD wouldn’t have a chance to do any other time.

And to Williams, it provides another opportunity for his department to get involved in a fun way.

“We had buy in,” he said of his department’s backing of the initiative. “Everybody thought it was a neat idea.

“I’m a firm believer in community policing and that’s what we’re going to do. And since I’m the chief, they’re going to go along with it. But all joking aside, if you just keep your eyes peeled, you see that we’re very involved.”