The cafeteria at Oak Tree Elementary School in Gilbert erupts just a half-beat after Officer Emily King steps through the doors.
Hands shoot into the air. Kids abandon half-eaten lunches. A chorus of “Hi!” ripples across the room as King starts moving table to table, handing out stickers, answering questions about her radio and the department’s K-9 unit, and laughing at jokes about “robbing a bank.”
“My job is the best job ever,” King says later as she enters her unmarked patrol vehicle after two school visits in one day. “Yes, I’m a cop, but I literally get to hang out with kids and go to the schools and whatever you need, I’m here for you.”
