MOSES LAKE — It’s not every day children get to hear “Goodnight, Moon” being read by a sheriff’s deputy with a trained K-9 named Chewbacca on the table beside him. Thanks to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, scenes like this are becoming a daily routine.

Corporal Nic Overland’s video is just one example of the book readings deputies in the Grant County Sheriff’s Office have posted as they look to remain connected with the community through everything that’s happened the last few weeks.

Deputy Katrina Ball got the idea after seeing similar videos being posted by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department on Facebook. After seeing how well-received the videos were with the community, Ball pitched the idea to the other deputies, and the first video was posted Thursday.

“It was just a good opportunity for the deputies to put themselves out there and kind of give kids, adults even, a different perspective of ‘Hey, this is who we are, we’re out here still,’” Ball said. “We want to take this time to still be able to reach out to the kids, and just for the public to get to see who we are and that we’re not just arresting people all the time.” Ball said having an opportunity to do this holds special importance to her. At a young age, she said, she remembers any little interaction or moment she got with a police officer.

“If we do something like read them a book that means something to them, or maybe a book that they love, then they’re going to remember that forever,” Ball said. “They’re going to look forward to it, maybe, the more that we do and the more that they’ll see us.”

Ball said she’s hopeful she’ll get children coming up to her once all the coronavirus measures have been lifted, exclaiming how much they enjoyed this while they were stuck at home.

Little things of this kind, Ball said, go further with young people in the community than she thinks they even realize sometimes. In addition to the reading, Ball said they are able to send a brief, positive message at the end of the videos, letting them know deputies are still watching out.

“Normally, when we’re driving through the neighborhood, we can stop and give kids stickers or shoot basketball hoops,” Ball said. “But that’s not allowed right now, so we’re just letting them know, ‘Hey, we’re still out here.’ So if you see us, just wave to us.”

Ball, who has a stepson at home, brought in some of the children’s books she had around the house to get the first videos going. Since then, other officers with kids at home have brought in some of the books they like to read with their own children, she said.

While some deputies were hesitant to join in at first, Ball said the sentiment has shifted as more and more people have seen the response and feedback being received from the videos.

Deputy Dave De La Rosa said he had seen similar videos of officers reading books to children, and when his fellow deputy pitched the idea, he knew he wanted to participate.

De La Rosa chose to do his video in Spanish, with K-9 Officer Hawk poking his head out from the back seat of the car as De La Rosa read “¿Como Cuentan Hasta Diez Los Dinosaurios?” (“How do Dinosaurs Count to Ten?”). De La Rosa said he received a wave of private messages from friends and people he knows in the community after his reading was posted.

“It’s good for them to see us out there, and everyone knows that we’re out there and that we’re watching them,” De La Rosa said. “And it kind of keeps everybody on a positive note and upbeat.”

De La Rosa said he’s hoping to have the chance to do another reading, this time in English, but said he’ll have to wait his turn now in the rotation.

Ball said the last few weeks have been an adjustment dealing with all of the new measures put in place, but she believes it’s improving every day.

“A few weeks ago, there were so many unknowns, so many new cases, and we weren’t sure how well we should be protecting ourselves,” she said. “But now, I feel like our patrol cars and our offices are probably more sanitized than they ever have been.”

Ball said the book readings kind of started on a whim, and said they’ll have to get creative in their next idea to reach out and connect with the community. She added that if anyone has any ideas on ways they can impact and influence “the kiddos,” she’s open to suggestions.