Clearwater Police Writing Tickets People Will Want

Getting a ticket from a law enforcement officer is unusually not cause for celebration.

That’s about to change, at least for some, in the Clearwater area.

It seems the Clearwater Police Department and Tampa Bay Rays have teamed up to put smiles on a few faces. “Operation Sunny Rays Days” kicks off this week with officers on the beat in Clearwater arming themselves with vouchers to hand out to residents that entitle them to up to four free baseline box tickets for any home page through Oct. 4 at Tropicana Field.

“The Clearwater Police Department is excited to join with the Tampa Bay Rays to help brighten the days of some of our Clearwater residents,” said Police Chief Dan Slaughter in an email to media. “A day at the ballpark is a great getaway for a family. And there’s no better team to support than our Rays.”

Rays President Brian Auld is happy to take part.

“The Rays mission is to energize our community through the magic of Rays baseball, and we are excited to partner with the Clearwater Police Department to offer a tool which helps reward positive citizenship with tickets to a Rays game,” Auld was quoted in the email as saying.

In addition to tickets, officers will also have T-shirts to distribute.

Tickets will be given out by officers at their discretion when they witness such things as good deeds taking place, during walk and talk in the park events, to crime victims and in a number of other scenarios, spokesman Rob Shaw said.

It is unclear how long the promotion will last.

Residents lucky enough to get their own tickets are asked to arrive at the Tropicana Field box office on the day of the game they wish to attend no more than two hours before the game’s start time.

Photo courtesy of the Clearwater Police Department