The “perp” raced across the open field, weapon in hand. Officer Saray Durango matched him in speed, sprinting at high speed on a scorching summer afternoon.
Unfortunately, Police pursuits happen all too frequently. But this one was different. The weapon was a water balloon. The perp was a laughing, young kid, and he was the one doing the pursuing. Ahead of him Officer Durango took evasive action, darting left and right across the field in a futile effort to avoid getting soaked.
“Catch the cop! Catch the cop!” shouted Officer Alfredo Echeverria, popularly known as “Officer Etch.”
On Friday, Aug. 7 about 30 kids from North Bergen converged on Bruins Stadium for a day of “Fun with a Cop,” the newest initiative from the township’s Community Policing Unit. The kids engaged in a series of games and interactions with several officers from the North Bergen Police Department, as well as employees of the public library and other volunteers.
“The kids are having a blast,” said a breathless Tracey Rivera, the dripping-wet library clerk.
It was an understatement. Smiles were everywhere as kids flung water balloons at the cops and each other and engaged in an epic battle with Super Soakers and water blasters.
“Anybody want to trade shoes with me?” asked Officer Etch as the day wound down. “Mine are soaked.”
Water warfare
“That whole attitude of ‘We’re scared of cops’ or ‘You’d better behave or I’m going to tell a cop’ – we want those days to be over,” said Echeverria. “We always try to emphasize that cops are your buddies.”
Fun with a Cop joins earlier efforts from the Community Policing Unit like Coffee with a Cop and Cookies with a Cop. Similar events are run in municipalities across the nation as a way to build trust and rapport between police and citizens. They were designed in North Bergen specifically to introduce and familiarize the public with the Community Policing Unit, established earlier this year.
“We’re all working together as a big team to promote learning, fun, and safety.” –Library Clerk Tracey Rivera
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Parents were in fact invited to join in the fun, although most opted to stay distant and dry on the sidelines.
“We worked with the Police Department to help organize the event and get all the supplies together and promote it,” said Rivera about the library’s involvement with the afternoon of activities.
The library purchased the water guns and balloons and other items, and promoted the event through flyers and postings online. “Over the summer we’ve been trying to bridge the gap between all the different areas of town,” said Rivera. “We’re all working together as a big team to promote learning, fun, and safety.”
Bruins Stadium in James J. Braddock North Hudson Park was chosen as a central location, with the activities taking place at the end near the trailers. Trucks from the North Bergen DPW supplied copious amounts of water. An EMS ambulance parked in the nearby lot supplied a siren while kids frantically passed water balloons in a circle. When the siren stopped, whoever was holding the balloon at that moment had to pop it over their head.
The activities were loosely planned by the Community Policing Unit. Also participating in the fun was Officer Xavier Romo.
The final activity – not counting the climactic free-for-all with water weapons – was a series of dodge ball(oon) games, separated by age groups, with one for the older kids and another for the younger ones.
Naturally, the cops had to do a lot of dodging.
“He’s a big target,” laughed one of the kids after hurtling a water balloon at Officer Etch.
More events planned
“We had a good showing today,” said Echeverria. Based on the success of the event, the Community Policing Unit is planning to hold more events like it in the future. “We’re hoping to get even more kids and we’ll get some more cops for that.”
At the end of the day, as everyone stood dripping in the hot sun, some of them wrapped in towels, Echeverria addressed the group.
“Today you had a couple of hours with North Bergen police,” he said. “We’re all friends. So that means whenever you guys need help or you just want to talk, you can come up to us. We’re cops, but we’re also buddies. If you’re hanging out in the park and you see me or you see Romo or you see Durango or you see any other cop, just come up and say, ‘Hey, how you doing, officer? Nice to meet you.’ ”
He just had one caveat. “No water balloons, though.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.