SSPD hosts fourth annual Spring Event

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — The Saratoga Springs Police Department recently hosted its fourth annual Spring Event.

Due to weather, the event was moved from Congress Park to the Saratoga Rec Center at 15 Vanderbilt Ave.

The event was full of families enjoying the variety of activities planned including face painting, coloring stations, temporary tattoos, and an inflatable course provided by the National Guard.

According to multiple officers, this year’s event was not only the best turnout for the Spring Event, but according to Lieutenant Angela McGovern, it was the best turnout of a community event as a whole.

“It only gets bigger every year – Sergeant Jenna Hiltz, who coordinates our community engagement program, has set this up and deserves all the credit,” McGovern said. “It’s a great way for us to interact with the community in a laid-back, fun setting. It also gives parents and families with kids something to do on this school break.”

McGovern also touched on how currently the department doesn’t have a dedicated community engagement officer but hopes to get there once the department reaches full staffing. Currently, when events like this take place, it is because one member of the department has taken the initiative.

Along with the events happening within the Rec Center, outside there were also members from the Saratoga Springs Fire Department with one of their trucks, Someone from the SSPD’s K-9 Unit with K-9 Lepa and SSPD firefighters serving up hot dogs.

“Selfishly, this is just as much for us as it is for the community,” McGovern shared. “This is something that, so to speak, fills our tank. We deal with people on their worst days most often, so this is a chance to deal with people in a neutral setting and to get to know members of the community and have them get to know us on a deeper level.”

Julianne Chapman and her son, Joe, were some of the many people who came out to the event. Chapman shared it was their first time coming to the event and they love any opportunity to get involved in the community. They also chose to attend the event to support one of their neighbors who is a police officer.

“I think it is fantastic, I love that there are tons of different options because my son doesn’t love to get his face painted so I love there are some more active options for the kids inside,” Chapman said. “I love that the SSPD put this on, I think it’s so important even for the kids just to know who is a safe person to go to, that they are fun and accepting of kids of all different abilities and energy levels. Again I think it is fantastic.”

SSPD Police Chief Tyler McIntosh also was at the event and shared how he wasn’t anticipating such a large turnout, but was very excited to see so many people from around the community at the event enjoying themselves.

“It’s a really great event. I am feeling a lot of good, positive vibes and it’s a great opportunity for our department to get out there and interact with the community so they can put a face to the badge,” McIntosh said. “Overall it’s a really great opportunity to connect with the community and hopefully it builds some partnerships, relationships and trust.”

This is something that McGovern also spoke to, talking about how important it is to the SSPD to foster good community relations and how attendance like this at a community event truly means a lot to the department.

“It’s awesome and it just proves to us that we are building the necessary relationships with the community,” McGovern said. “We need this as much as they do, and it’s really great to see the support of the police department and the events that we put on. We would love to see this grow as time goes on.”