PRESTON — A 10-year-old special-needs boy was made an honorary member of the Preston Police Department at the last City Council meeting.

Dan McCammon, chief of the Preston Police Department, said the boy's name is Zeke Schmidt. He is the first of many children the department intends to honor through its new Honorary Police Officer Program.

"We got him a badge," McCammon said. "It was a smaller badge that won't be mistaken for a real badge. It did look really good."

Zeke's badge had his name and the title "Honorary Police Officer" written on it. He was also given a plaque and a shirt with the police department's shoulder patch on it.

"He was pretty excited about it," McCammon said. "After the meeting, my guys set up a little scenario so he could make his own traffic stop."

McCammon said the Preston Police Department has wanted a program like this for a long time. He said the Franklin County Sheriff's Office already does something similar with the special needs community.

"For years, (the sheriff's office) has done a lunch with a cop around Christmas with the special needs community," McCammon said. "They have games and bring Santa Claus in. That's a fun thing the sheriff's office does."

One of the officers at the Preston Police Department, Paul Loveday, gave McCammon the idea for the Honorary Police Officer Program after meeting Zeke and his mother two years ago at a school basketball game.

"As soon as he found out he was a cop, anytime he was at the school he would rush over to him and sit with him," McCammon said.

Loveday said Zeke was excited when he found out Loveday was a police officer. He said Zeke went up to him and told him the two of them would be best friends.

"At every sporting event, you would see Zeke in his police outfit looking for an officer to sit by," Loveday said. "That's why I felt like he was the one we needed to choose first."

The department hopes to make a special-needs child an honorary officer at least once a year. McCammon said the department wants to do this for special-needs and younger children to help them feel more comfortable around officers.

"A lot of them are scared or nonverbal," McCammon said. "They just need to know that they can come to us for help and that we'll be there for them."