School Celebrates Adopt-a-Cop Day

Students at Bible Baptist Christian School release blue balloons
in honor of the men and women who serve on police forces.

Just as Clayton County Police Lt. Craig Hammer finished telling students at Bible Baptist Christian School a little about himself and opened the floor for questions, one student asked what many others likely wanted to know. “Have you ever shot somebody?” the student asked. “No, and I thank God for that,” said Hammer. “I hope I never do.” Hammer, 42, was one of three officers honored by the students during its observance of Adopt-A-Cop Day. Also honored during the event, were 44-year-old Clayton County Officer Joe Eckler and Henry County Police Officer Johnny Mathis, 23. Eckler’s two daughters — Mackenzie, 8, and Mackayla, 7 — presented their father with a certificate of appreciation during the assembly. Eckler called the recognition “a humbling experience.” “I think any time we can get around children in an environment like this, nothing but good can come from it,” he said. Hammer, who has been in law enforcement for 22 years, told the students that being a police officer was all he wanted to do from the time he was a child. He said being recognized Wednesday gave him “new energy.” “It shows that people still care about the police,” he said. Like Hammer, Mathis said he grew up with a respect for those in law enforcement from the time his father, Lt. John Mathis, was an officer in the Atlanta Police Department.