Pulled over by police? You might get a gift card

How long does it take to go from “Aw, crap” to “Merry Christmas?”

About as long as it takes to find out that the Wichita Police officer who just pulled you over is giving you a $50 gift card instead of a traffic citation.

That’s the experience a few careless, but lucky, motorists will have this holiday season through a novel community-relations project launched by the Police Department.

Over the next couple of days, 29 traffic violators will find themselves getting a gift card and a “drive safely” warning — instead of a fine and court date — when they get pulled over for minor infractions.

The gift card giveaway started Wednesday and Trent Sebits, pulled over for speeding on 2nd Street, was one of the first to participate.

“I was a little surprised, because I was speeding,” said Sebits, chairman of the board of Pickrell Drilling, an oil and gas company.

He said when he first got pulled over, he was just hoping he wasn’t driving too much over the speed limit. When he found out he was getting a gift card to Kwik Shop instead, “It was a total shock and surprise, a very pleasant one.”

Next up was Steven Casey, a floor technician — “I keep the floors shining” — at Wesley Medical Center.

After traffic Officer Eric Piotrowski handed him a gift card, he began laughing with relief.

“I appreciate him, I mean, I wasn’t expecting this,” Casey said. “I thought a citation and a ticket would be coming, but he actually gave me a gift card. It was a wonderful day for me.”

Piotrowski said he’d never done anything like the gift-card giveaway in his nearly 29 years on the force. But he said it was fun to give people something they’d want for a change.

“It’s always good to make people feel good, especially when they think something negative is going to happen,” he said.

The cards went to minor violators instead of good drivers because it’s illegal for police to just randomly stop a motorist – even to give them a gift – without probable cause to believe some violation occurred, Piotrowski said.

Police spokesman Charley Davidson said the idea for giving out gift cards originated with Chief Gordon Ramsay and Davidson recruited Kwik Shop and QuikTrip as sponsors of the giveaway.

The idea behind it was to show a little holiday forgiveness and thank the community for supporting the police, Davidson said.

“It’s through the relationships we have with our community we’re able to solve crimes from misdemeanor to violent crimes,” Davidson said. “Many times the community’s our eyes and ears, reporting what they see, what they heard, calling us when suspicious activity happens.

“So we thought this would be a good way for us to give back to our community for the relationship we have and the appreciation we have for them.”

Brant McCracken, pulled over for an expired license plate, was definitely feeling the appreciation.

“It’s something I’ve never experienced before,” he said. “I appreciate it though. It’s definitely a positive thing.”

McCracken actually had a valid plate in the car with him. But he said he hadn’t put it on yet because of damage to the plate frame caused when someone tried to steal his old plate outside the Old Chicago restaurant at Towne East Square where he works.

The would-be thief didn’t get the plate, but did strip a screw trying, he said.

Piotrowski said it’s technically a violation not to display a valid plate on the rear of the car. But he said he’d have probably have let McCracken slide anyway, given the circumstances.

This story was originally published December 22, 2016 at 7:32 AM with the headline "Pulled over by police? You might get a gift card."