Shawano’s school resource officers are going to be out and about in the community and beyond as they continue to try to foster good relations between residents and law enforcement.
Brandy Hoffman and Tyler Thornborrow are continuing their summer tradition of providing free lunches at some of Shawano’s parks. After kicking things off June 2 at Kuckuk Park, the pair plan to be at Smalley Park on June 23, Memorial Park on July 7, Arlington Park on July 27, Eberlein Park on Aug. 4 and Co-op Park on Aug. 17. The lunches in the park take place from noon to 1 p.m. and include a variety of games with the officers — not just Hoffman and Thornborrow but any other officers who pop in.
Hoffman and Thornborrow won’t just be serving lunch in Shawano, though. The pair are also working with the Bonduel Police Department, Shawano County Sheriff’s Department and Stockbridge-Munsee Police Department to provide lunchtime fun in other communities in Shawano County like Bonduel, Bowler, Gresham, Tigerton and Birnamwood.
When they’re not serving lunches, they’re also working with area businesses to hold other events. The previous ones are back for another year with Cone With a Cop on July 7 at Dairy Queen, Cops at Culver’s on July 28 to benefit Police Lights of Christmas, National Night Out on Aug. 11 at Franklin Park and Cop on a Rooftop on Aug. 14 at Dunkin.
There will be a couple of new events this year. Pizza Hut will host Sirens and Slices on June 16, but before that, there will be a Touch A Truck event June 8 at Walmart.
According to Hoffman, Pizza Hut has been a big supporter of the various school initiatives she and Thornborrow have launched over the last few years.
“It’s like Cone With a Cop, but with pizza instead,” Hoffman said. “Pizza Hut has been good with (the) ‘We Need You Here’ (attendance campaign), and on freshman day, they do pizza with the school. Also, they provide pizza for chem-free (graduation party). They wanted to find another way to get involved with the community and do something with us.”
The movement doesn’t stop there. Thornborrow said a new trailer that can store the games, grills and whatever else is needed for events will be traveling around, and pop-up events could take place anywhere there are children in a large enough group in the community.
“Our presence in the parks, in and of itself, is needed, and it’s a deterrent to anything that could be going on,” Thornborrow said. “Also, when you pack a park with a lot of people that are there to come and have lunch with the police, it opens a dialogue and conversation between the community members. It’s not just the kids that are coming to these. It’s the children and their parents.”
The trailer was donated by Bryce Huntington and his family with Auction Associates. Thornborrow said he’d called Huntington to find out what a trailer would cost, but Huntington gave it to the police department.
“It just took one phone call, and he was able to get something together,” Thornborrow said.
Community support has been abundant. Walmart recently donated a Blackstone grill where the burgers and brats can be cooked. Volunteers with Associated Bank will help with the lunch event June 23, and Auto Select will join the fun for the Aug. 4 event.
Police Chief Mike Musolff said the summer events being coordinated by Hoffman and Thornborrow have received attention from outside Shawano County. He noted a lunch event held by the sheriff’s department last year at Shawano Lake County Park had people wondering why their local police departments weren’t conducting such a level of outreach.
“They were, like, ‘Our police departments don’t do this,’” Musolff said. “That was really cool.”
Thornborrow agreed with Musolff’s statement, noting that the park was packed with people, because the event took place right after National Night Out, and there were plenty of people visiting.
“The county park was packed, and then we showed up, and everyone was saying, ‘What’s going on?’” Thornborrow said.
“We had to keep getting more food for it,” Hoffman added. “We were running out.”
The positive interactions are meant to counteract the negative ones. Police officials noted that last year’s Sun Drop Dayz had a marked increase in disturbance arrests when people got drunk and combative, and Hoffman noted that the incidents from last year were more than the previous seven years combined.
Musolff made it clear that such behavior won’t be tolerated at public events put on in the city.
“If you’re the type of person who can’t make it through an event without having negative police contact, stay home,” he said
The outreach efforts can’t easily be measured on community impact in the moment, but Hoffman said, after years of doing it, there are some indications from children and other community members they interacted with previously that it’s making a difference.
“The more that we interact with them, how much did our positive interaction in the parks and the schools at this age help them down the road go down a better path?” Hoffman said.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
The new trailer is packed with all the stuff Shawano police officers utilize for lunches in the park and other community events. The equipment will be getting a lot of use as the department’s summer activities kick into full gear. (Lee Pulaski | NEW Media)
