Test run for police: lights, sirens, popsicles

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Children in the Granite Ridge complex in Kennett Township wait to climb inside a police vehicle. The event was a run-up to the Kennett Square Sixth Annual National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 2.

For the uninformed, an Armageddon-style event generated a deafening police response on Friday afternoon at the Granite Ridge apartment complex on McFarlan Road in Kennett Township.

Three-year-old Zayre Brenneman from Fort Lee, Va., picks the right day to visit his grandmother Marilyn Vega in Kennett Township.
Three-year-old Zayne Brenneman, who  picked the right day to visit his grandmother in Kennett Township, savors a popsicle.

Five patrol cars – three from the township and two from the borough –surrounded the playground in the complex, with every flasher ablaze and all sirens blaring.

But the only weapons the responding officers wielded were locally-made popsicles from La Michoacana. The police served solely as overseers to the din and the light show.   Behind the controls, a gleeful crowd of children took turns pushing the buttons – activity that parents eagerly captured on their cellphones.

The event was one of several test runs for Kennett Square’s upcoming Sixth Annual National Night Out, an event filled with food, fun and presentations that will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the 200 and 300 blocks of East Linden Street in Kennett Square.

Julianna Herrera (left) poses with her 4-year-old daughter, Juliana, and Kennett Township Officer Amanda Wenrich.
Julianna Herrera (left) poses with her 4-year-old daughter, Julianna, and Kennett Township Officer Amanda Wenrich.

For the past five years, the Kennett Square Borough Police Department and the Carter Community Development Corporation, formerly the Historic East Linden Project, Inc., have teamed up with school-age children to applaud a community partnership with law enforcement that has come a long way.

Once plagued by drug-dealing, violence, and disrepair, the historic, culturally diverse neighborhood surrounding East Linden Street has experienced a dramatic revitalization. Grateful for the turnaround, members of the community have gathered the first Tuesday in August to observe National Night Out. Begun 32 years ago by the National Association of Town Watches, the annual event was designed to encourage community policing.

Ethan Cramer (left), a board member of the Carter CDC, discusses the event with Kennett Township Supervisors' Chairman Scudder G. Stevens.
Ethan Cramer (left), a board member of the Carter CDC, discusses the event with Kennett Township Supervisors' Chairman Scudder G. Stevens.

This year, Kennett Township, which has enjoyed a strong partnership with the borough as its own police force has grown, will join the festivities for the first time. Both departments espouse face-to-face interaction between the police and the community to instill mutual respect.

“We’re really pleased to be able to join this effort,” said Kennett Township Supervisors’ Chairman Scudder G. Stevens. “It makes so much sense to engage the police with the community and create much better relationships.”

Kennett Township Police Chief Lydell Nolt watches a group of  children activate the sirens in his police vehicle, which is locked in park.
Kennett Township Police Chief Lydell Nolt watches a group of  children activate the sirens in his police vehicle, which is locked in park.

Stevens also applauded the partnership between the township and borough police departments. “In the real world, everything has to work together,” he said. “The broader the base, the better for everyone.”

It’s a philosophy that resonates with Theresa Bass, president of the Carter CDC. With the help of police, Bass helped spearhead the neighborhood’s dramatic turnaround, a transformation that replaced open-air drug markets and disrepair with well-manicured homes and neighborliness.

Kennett Square Police Officer Chris Gravina (from left), Kennett Square Det. Jack Trevisan and Kennett Township Officer Amanda Wenrich (right) pose with Marilyn Vega and her two grandchildren from Fort Lee, Va., 22-month-old Leila and 3-year-old Zayre Brenneman.
Kennett Square Police Officer Chris Gravina (from left), Kennett Square Det. Jack Trevisan and Kennett Township Officer Amanda Wenrich (right) pose with Marilyn Vega and her two grandchildren from Fort Lee, Va., 22-month-old Leila and 3-year-old Zayne Brenneman.

National Night Out will feature friendly, relaxed interaction between the community, especially the children, and members of the police departments. During Friday’s gathering, officers made serious inroads into one of the goals of community policing: to create a bond and foster lasting relationships of trust.

Lisa Sanchez, the property manager for Granite Ridge, said the feedback she got from parents was also entirely positive, particularly given the recent attacks against police – violence that occurred long after the planning began for Kennett’s National Night Out. “They said they were really glad the police were doing this,” Sanchez said.

Kennett Township Police Officer Johnathan Ortiz waits for another group of youngsters to crowd his vehicle.
Kennett Township Police Officer Johnathan Ortiz waits for another group of youngsters to crowd his vehicle.

She said at least 100 children reside in the 112-unit complex, and a majority of them made an appearance during Friday’s activities. In addition to working the controls in the police vehicles, the children posed for photos with the officers and snacked on ice cream treats.

Ethan Cramer, a Carter CDC board member, said he was very pleased with the turnout. “This is exactly what was supposed to happen,” he said, watching as the children happily sprang from one police vehicle to another.

Kennett Township Police Officer Amanda Wenrich got the coolest duty of the afternoon. “I’m the popsicle aficionado today,” she said as she distributed frozen bars to outstretched hands.

But to ensure that everyone got served, she had to be on the lookout for repeat offenders, acknowledging that one or two might have slipped by.

“Are you sure you haven’t already had one?” she asked one youngster. Although the boy sheepishly shook his head, Wenrich smiled, pointing out that the evidence suggested otherwise. “I see the last one on your face,” she said.

For more information about the Sixth Annual National Night, contact Cramer at ecramer@cartercdc.org.

 

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