LPS to reward young people with a free Froster drink coupon

By Lethbridge Herald on August 29, 2025.

Lethbridge Police Service members and Circle K staff showcase the "tickets" used for Operation Freeze to reward your for good behaviour or acts of kindness Thursday at the Circle K location in Sunridge Road West.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

Receiving a ticket from a police officer is not something adults want to deal with, but the Lethbridge Police Service has partnered with Circle K for an initiative that will see young people being positively ticketed for good behaviour and acts of service or kindness.

Operation Freeze is a Canada-wide program where Circle K provides complimentary beverage coupons to police agencies, for officers to hand out like tickets to youth observed doing good deeds. 

Circle K has provided LPS with 1,000 Operation Freeze coupons and patrol, traffic and community engagement officers will be on the lookout for positive behaviour, good deeds, acts of kindness and goodwill gestures throughout the community.

Lethbridge Police Cst. Karly Easter said Thursday the partnership is a relaunch of a previously established partnership, and she hopes that children see officers as positive, safe and approachable. 

“I think oftentimes police has to interact with people when is not their best day, so I’m hoping that this creates an opportunity for police to build connections and positive interactions with the youth,” said Easter. 

The initiative is based on the philosophy that recognizing youth for positive actions will inspire and motivate others to follow suit, and Circle K developed a youth relations program nearly 20 years ago to build trust between young people and the police, while reducing incidents of crime at their stores.

“When I was a kid and having a positive interaction with a police officer and I still remember it, I think that we all remember the first officer we ever talked to or the first interaction we had with them,” said Easter. 

She said that by the Operation Freeze creating a positive interaction between youth and police, the hope is that it will stay with them until adulthood. 

Sherry Coey, Circle K senior manager of safety and security for Western Canada said partnering with LPS is great and they have a good relationship with them, and with other police agencies across the country. 

“With the handout of the coupons I’m able to monitor to see how much redemption there is, and I can say that with Lethbridge Police the redemption values to the amount of coupons that were given out was phenomenal in the last round,” said Coey. 

The coupons – good for one small Froster – provide police opportunities for positive interactions with youth. Young people will be rewarded for a variety of good behaviour from wearing bicycle helmets, observing school crossing rules and doing good deeds. Police may also use the coupons to help establish a rapport with youth in their patrol areas.