'Critters' Making Kids' Police Interaction More Comfy In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — A local quilting group and the Manchester Police Department are teaming up to make encounters with the cops a bit less stressful.

On Wednesday, the MPD took fist first delivery of 20 "comfort critters," plush characters which can be given to any child who encounters police officers while in a stressful situation.

Officer Jessica Kind showed off the critters after the delivery.

The plus critters are courtesy of Peace by Piece Quilters, based out of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in South Windsor, which formerly had its church building in Manchester. Members craft a number of hand-quilted items for various charitable causes.

The Comfort Critters are stuffed animals wrapped in a small hand-quilted blanket. Peace by Piece Quilters has been donating them to police departments to be used to comfort children in need, whether they have experienced a motor vehicle crash, a domestic disturbance, or something else that results in a law enforcement response.

The responses are often upsetting to the child.

"The Comfort Critters are intended to help officers build rapport with the community they serve and provide reassurance to the young people they interact with, often under less-than-ideal circumstances," police said.

Officers will have access to them, keep them in their patrol bags or cruisers, and distribute them as they seem fit.