By Perry A. Farrell
Detroit Free Press
OAK PARK, Mich. — When it’s time to scream for ice cream in Oak Park, the police department will be around to help.
The Oak Park Department of Public Safety is getting its own ice cream truck, and uniformed police will be touring local neighborhoods and handing out 300 free ice cream sandwiches every week through the fall.
The ice cream truck also will be on hand with free ice cream for all holiday and special events, Koch said in a written statement.
“We are the only police ice cream truck in the state of Michigan,’’ said Detective Robert Koch of the Oak Park Investigative Division, who added that the truck is being funded through donations by local businesses.
Its official unveiling is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Monday, May 22, at the police department.
The ice cream truck is one of part of an initiative by Oak Park to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement.
The department also is launching the Oak Park Citizens Academy, in which citizens will take part in a four-week course – one day per week for three hours each day. The hands-on experience will include using a life-sized firearms training simulator.
Citizens will be put in “shoot-don’t shoot” scenarios with a real firearm and secondary weapons. They will also learn how to dust for fingerprints, examine a crime scene, collect evidence like footwear impressions in the mud and learn the criminal justice process.
Koch said the academy will allow Oak Park residents to “peek behind the blue curtain, where they can see what we do, and how we do it. It also creates personal relationships between the citizens that attend and the officers conducting the Academy.’’
For information, visit the department’s website or call 248-691-7514
Because race relations between police and citizens, especially in communities with a predominantly white police force and an African-American citizenry is tense, Oak Park Public Safety Department is trying to “bridge the gap” between the police and the citizens of the community.
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©2017 the Detroit Free Press