Police hosting Trunk or Treat this Halloween

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on October 28, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

The Lethbridge Police Service will take part in the Halloween celebrations this year and engage with the community by holding its own Trunk or Treat.
Sgt. Dave Warner, a member of the patrol team who came up with the idea, told reporters Friday that one of the constables in his team shared his experience with a similar event while working in the United States.
“Constable Christian Olson presented us with an idea that he had when he worked at a different police agency in Las Vegas and it was a very positive impact in the community, and it was a really successful event that brought a lot of children forward and parents that come with their kids,” said Warner.  
He said Olson saw such a huge success in the event, he thought it would be a great experience for LPS to have a similar event.
“The whole trunk or treat idea is they would decorate the back of their patrol vehicles and they would have the candy in the back, and it gave an opportunity for our local youth from the area to feel comfortable to come and talk to the police in a safe environment, to trick or treat, and also an environment where we can really work on fostering those positive relationships with our youth in the community,” said Warner.
He said the team thought it was a great idea and they put it forward to their executive, and the chief, deputy chief, and their inspectors loved it.
“All of our officers on the patrol team were super pumped to jump in and jump forward and help us, as well as other patrol teams and other officers in the building. I feel such an exciting event is going to be great for our kids in the community and we look forward to seeing a lot of the costumes and just talking with the kids and interacting and hopefully get to see some future police officers as well coming to our event.”
Warner said officers will try to display a variety of different vehicles used by LPS during the event and will welcome questions from those in attendance.
“This is all volunteering. We have seen probably 75 per cent of our patrol teams that have already jumped and we’re still getting more emails and people who wanted to assist, including our volunteers, some of our dispatchers, other officers from other units, even some of our members’ spouses that want to come out and help.”
Officers in uniform, who are volunteering their time, will hand out candy on Halloween night to trick-or-treaters starting at 5 p.m. and going until the treats are all gone.
LPS said in a release that Trunk or Treat is intended for younger children, but all youth are welcome to attend.
The event will take at the boat launch parking lot at Nicholas Sheran Park just off McMaster Boulevard and in the parking lot of the Logan Boulet Arena along 13 Street and 8 Avenue North.

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