Police around the country are trying out a new role in their communities this summer: Mister Softee.

Officers in small-town Salisbury, N.C. and Columbia, S.C. are sending officers out in ice-cream trucks to hand out free treats, joining other good-humored cops from Cleveland to Milwaukee.

The Salisbury police gave out ice cream to 200 children and 75 adults Tuesday on the department’s maiden voyage past At The Cross Ministries. “I had kids running everywhere to get to the ice-cream truck,” said Pastor Debra Ellison. “It was great for the community, and especially our kids, to see the police other than when there is trouble.”

The ice-cream initiative comes after highly publicized police shootings in many cities across the country have eroded trust between neighborhoods and police.

Justin Bamberg, a South Carolina lawyer who represents the family of Walter Scott, a black man fatally shot in the back by a white officer in 2015, said reaching out with ice cream is a step in the right direction, but it cannot be the only step.