Trash Bag Diplomacy

By Major Van Harl USAF Ret

Patriotic Picnic
Trash Bag Diplomacy
AmmoLand Gun News
AmmoLand Gun News

Wisconsin –-(Ammoland.com)-  The planning committee involving the County Parks Department, the Mayor, the Department of Public Works, fire fighters and the cops of Cudahy, WI were meeting to work out the operational functions for the 2013, 4th of July parade and fireworks show.

The County had cases of trash bags they wanted to have passed out in the picnic areas of the park. When thousands of folks descend on the parks on the 4th they generate lots of trash. The cops stepped up (perhaps a little reluctantly) and agreed to distribute the trash bags.

In fact the senior captain of the police department was the official who “volunteered” his officers to perform this task. He will perhaps forever be known as “Captain Trash Bag” for his actions, but this is a very good thing.

It was obvious that most of the folks who had come early to set up their extended family personal picnic areas were not from our city. Most of the local residences were picnicking in their own front yards with plans to walk over to the park at dusk to watch the fireworks.

Why drag the Weber grill and the cooler a few blocks down the street from your home to celebrate the 4th of July and give up indoor plumbing for the whole day. Just before the fireworks start, take a short hike with family and lawn chairs in tow and enjoy the show.

So the diversity of the folks in our city park on the 4th was not what you would perhaps usually encounter. City cops patrolling the park on ATVs might be a comforting sight for some of the picnicking families but could in fact be perceived as an uncomfortable intrusion on some well organized family events. So an armed, uniformed policeman rides into your family picnic area and there are a few less than comfortable stares coming from some of your family members. However you are surprised when the nice policeman asks if you could use some free trash bags.

Large family gatherings mean lots of refuse and grandma or “abuela” sometimes just gets tired of picking up after her family.

What was interesting was the change of expression on the faces of the picnickers. It was positive and trash bags were very well received. As the picnicking day rolls on the return of officers with extra trash bags are received with even a more positive acceptance. The subject of why so many folks from outside of the city were coming to use the park was discussed. The word safety kept coming up in conversation. The park system in our city is very well run and it is just about the right size for the city police to manage during a large-crowd event such as the 4th of July. Being able to patrol the park with a large crowd in attendance and provide some level of assured safety to families truly is a major factor in why folks leave the big city for a day of constructive family bonding and celebration.

I will admit that the different groups did self-select to segregate themselves and where they set up their picnicking spots in the park. There was however no problems crossing through each group’s territory, probably more than anything because it was about multi- generational family units participating in a family-oriented, daylight hours, food involved functions. Yes, there was alcohol, but it was not the beer gardens atmosphere trying to make a major profit pushing consumption.

My take as an old cop is even families that have a lot of drama or problems with their relatives tend to behave in public if you can keep the drugs and alcohol out of the equation.

The flip side of the equation is while the visiting folks in the city parks were behaving, the police had to respond to a number of calls at local residences because of family drama, and yes, alcohol was involved.

Nobody including myself is ever going to be 100% calm and unaffected when a couple of armed, uniformed police officers approach them on the streets. However in the future hopefully if Officer Friendly or Captain Trash Bag approaches you in the park with some free trash bags, you will feel a little less apprehensive and perhaps even a tad bit safer for you and your family. You may even feel a little more public spirit minded about tidying your common area at the city park.

Tax dollars paying for some trash bags, passed out by the cops and successfully deployed by the citizens are cheaper than the county employees paid by the hour to pick up that trash left on the park grounds-hence trash bag diplomacy.

Major Van Harl USAF Ret / [email protected]

About Major Van Harl USAF Ret.:Major Van E. Harl USAF Ret., a career Police Officer in the U.S. Air Force was born in Burlington, Iowa, USA, in 1955. He was the Deputy Chief of police at two Air Force Bases and the Commander of Law Enforcement Operations at another. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Infantry School.  A retired Colorado Ranger and currently is an Auxiliary Police Officer with the Cudahy PD in Milwaukee County, WI.  His efforts now are directed at church campus safely and security training.  He believes “evil hates organization.”  [email protected]

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FrankInFL

Love it! Back to being ‘peace officers’ at last!