PERRYSBURG, Ohio — On Tuesday morning, officers from Lake, Rossford, Perrysburg, Perrysburg Township and the Ohio State Highway Patrol came together to help raise awareness for school bus safety.
Perrysburg Township police said "Operation Big Bird" was started because there has been a lot of attention in the area with people violating traffic laws around school buses.
The goal: to focus on children's safety in bus route areas.
Each bus participating in the operation had one police officer riding along and calling in to patrol cars about violations they saw along the routes.
"What's nice about it is the officers on the bus can actually see what the bus drivers are seeing. It's kind of difficult sometimes," Perrysburg Township Police Sergeant David Molter said. "The bus drivers see a violation, they'll report it to us and then we'll try to follow up later. But, having an officer on the bus to see it, to understand what the bus drivers are seeing is really important. So it was a learning experience for us too and we hope we were able to make an impact."
Sgt. Molter said the operation was a success and they plan on doing it again as the school year progresses. However, they do not have future dates scheduled just yet.