Police chief, officers get Valentines

Angelique Flores

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Students from Huntington Beach High School and

Ethel Dwyer Middle School gathered this week to thank Huntington Beach

Police officers for cracking down on drunk driving.

Fifteen students from the Huntington Beach Coalition Against Substance

Abuse Youth Subcommittee presented Chief Ron Lowenberg and his force with

handmade Valentine cards at the Huntington Beach Police Department on

Monday morning. “This is to thank to Police Department for conducting

DUI checkpoints and for being our lifesavers and keeping our city clean

of drunk driving,” said the coalition’s chairman Mark Edwards, a student

from Ethel Dwyer Middle School.

On Dec. 17, officers from Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley set up

a sobriety checkpoint on Warner Avenue at Magnolia Street and invited

students from the local high and middle schools to observe. Twenty-five

teens and parents attended.

“The officers made us feel welcome, and I felt the community and

police force came together in this event,” said Michael Le, a student

from Huntington Beach High School.

Throughout the winter season, special have organized patrols targeting

drunk drivers, which is more prevalent this time of year, authorities

said. Project PATH -- which stands for Positive Action Toward Health, an

organization aimed at drug and alcohol prevention -- sponsored local

student participation at the checkpoint and the Valentine’s Day thank you

event.

But the department got more than just Valentines. The students also

gave Lowenberg and his officers 235 rolls of Life Saver candies, one for

each officer in the department. “This gift is a thank you for your

efforts, and I hope it is a reminder to others who see it not to drink

and drive,” said Kelly Ann McEntee, a student from Huntington Beach High

School.