Berea Police Department hosts 1st Annual Spring Clean event

May 22—BEREA — Last weekend, the Berea Police Department was busy cleaning up the streets — literally.

More than 60 volunteers, including several BPD officers, participated in the department's first annual Berea Spring Clean.

According to BPD Chief Eric Scott, the volunteers were able to pick up more than 500 pounds of trash from the city's parks, roadways, and creeks.

On Saturday, the volunteers broke into groups — with each group accompanied by a Berea police officer — and cleaned up trash from Haiti Road, to the downtown area, and walking trails.

Scott said he was pleased by the number of volunteers who participated in the department's first trash pick-up event.

"I'm so thankful to everyone who came out to the event and to the officers in our department who volunteered their time on a Saturday," Scott said.

Volunteers for Saturday's clean up effort included members of the local Girls and Boy Scout troops, Get Outside KY kayak rental team, and the Madison Southern Basketball team.

Scott said he is determined to continue to do more community service projects in the community this year.

"As a police department we are community servants and I tell my officers all the time that everything we do matters and that policing is much more than just law enforcement — yes, we need to enforce laws, but we are also public servants in our community," Scott said.

Scott said the community service projects also allow officers a chance to engage with the community on a different level.

"We have an opportunity to serve others and it is an excellence chance to be community leaders and mentors to our youth. Not many may have positive interactions with law enforcement, so projects like this is a good way to foster relationships and build up those positive memories and trust of police officers," Scott said.

The police chief said he feels it is important to have officers seen as servant-leaders in the community and to provide opportunities for citizens to meet and talk with law enforcement.

"It's really great for everyone involved — officers and citizens. For example, on Saturday one of my officers was in the group with the nutritionists from Wright Nutrition and they got to talking and he came back inspired to really change his diet and try and eat healthier," Scott said. "It's all about being a part of a community."

The police chief said he has already received a lot of positive feedback from the citizens of Berea.

"We have had a lot of comments and emails, especially from people in the Haiti area, who have thanked us for picking up trash," Scott said. "I'm so grateful for those."

Scott said the department has other service projects in mind throughout the summer and fall.

"We hope to do more events like this one and perhaps partner with other organizations on a day of service," Scott said.