Eat a Meal, Tip-A-Cop
The Special Olympics organization is one that is close to the heart for the Yuma Police Department.
On Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Yuma Police Department will be continuing their efforts to raise money for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics.
The “Tip-A-Cop” event will be held at the Famous Dave’s located at South Yuma Palms Parkway.
This event has been around for many years as it is one of the ways to raise money for the Special Olympics.
YPD officers, along with Special Olympians, will be in the restaurant to offer a conversation with the community.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated towards the Special Olympics.
YPD will also be selling plush dogs while other donations are welcome.
According to a press release by YPD, the money will help Special Olympics athletes grow and have more opportunities to learn new skills and discover independence.
“The Yuma Police Department has a very fond spot for the Special Olympics. We do a lot of fundraisers for them,” said Sergeant Lori Franklin with Yuma Police Department.
Yuma Police Department has hosted other events for the Special Olympics including the “Field of Dreams” event and the recent “Safe and Scary” Halloween event.
According to the press release, the Special Olympics currently serves over 2.5 million people in more than 200 programs in 165 countries.
Franklin said that the Special Olympics has become a soft spot for YPD because it is a local organization.
“We have Special Olympians local in Yuma, so they do an awesome thing and it gets kids and adults out to do Olympic type training,” Franklin said.
Like the firefighter fundraiser, Fill the Boot, YPD has their Tip-A-Cop event.
“We all have our causes that we are very fond of,” Franklin added.
Along with donating to the Special Olympics, another benefit to this event is the opportunity to have an open conversation with an officer.
Franklin said it is important that officers make themselves available to the community.
“We want them to be comfortable to come to us because we are a small department and the town is getting bigger,” she said.
According to Franklin, events like these allow officers who normally take calls back to back can be free to talk to people.
“In our normal day-to-day jobs, we deal with people at one of the worst times in their lives, so we don’t have the ability to sit down and get to know you. Our officers do not have that luxury because there are more calls waiting for them to go to,” she said. “We rely on our community to help us understand what is going on and where they help us as much as we help them.”
School resource officers have been proven to be helpful as students grow up getting to know the law enforcement personnel around them.
The newer YPD Facebook page and instant messages have also been beneficial towards bridging the gap between Yuma residents and officers.
“A lot of things that people may not have reported in the past, they are reporting to us that way,” Franklin said.
Because of resources and events like these, YPD wants the community to know they are available to them.
“We see a lot more people coming out to our events and understand that we’re people just like you are. We have families and go home to families,” Franklin said.
Having events like “Tip-A-Cop” creates a space for officers to sit down in a relaxed environment with the community and listen to concerns.
YPD added that the Special Olympics is an international non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people with intellectual disabilities.
