DOYLESTOWN — They weren’t riding in a one-horse open sleigh, but officers from the Doylestown Police Department were busy spreading some holiday cheer in the form of $100 on Tuesday as they kicked off their annual $100 Traffic Stop Campaign.



The event is a favorite among the officers; instead of issuing a traffic ticket, they issue crisp $100 dollar bills to the driver of the vehicles they pull over. With money in hand, Chief of Police Casey Tester, Lt. Kevin Millburn and Officer Lydia Morrow set out to find their first "offender" at noon on Tuesday.



"I thought I came to a complete stop at the stop sign," said Chris Clark of Hudson who was in town working on the new school building. "It is a great feeling, that I don’t have to pay a fine, instead I got $100."



Tester admitted that he has seen almost every emotion you can imagine during the campaign over the years.



"Let’s face it, no one enjoys getting pulled over; it is a negative experience," he said. "The holidays are a hectic time and people are in a hurry, the last thing they want is a ticket. We turn that negative experience into a positive one."



Millburn echoed Tester’s thoughts and recounted the time when a recipient pulled away in such disbelief of what was happening that they called the department a few days afterward to thank him.



"I have seen people overly excited, in disbelief and everything in between," he said. "Then there are those occasions when a person wants to pay it forward."



Last year, during a stop by Millburn, Tammy Baker said that she had been blessed throughout the year and she wanted to donate the money to the Doylestown Food Cupboard. Millburn then escorted her to the location of the food cupboard to drop off the money.



The department received approximately $1,800 to give away this year, up $200 over what they disbursed last year.



"Word has gotten around," Tester said. "People donate to it throughout the year."



Reporter Dan Starcher can be reached at 330-287-1626 or dstarcher@the-daily-record.com. He is @danstarcher on Twitter.