We had a fantastic time today with the third graders of Southwood Elementary School. Columbus Division of Police 13 Precinct (South Side) Officers Heidi Graber and Nick Siers read Stellaluna to the combined classes--48 kids all at once! But they were so well behaved and asked really nice questions, including what were the officers' favorite and least favorite "missions." (Ofcs Nick and Heidi are now going to call their dispatch runs missions, and maybe they'll be more fun. 😀)

Ofc Heidi said...

The guest speakers at our February meeting are 13 Precinct (South Side) Columbus Division of Police Officers Heidi Graber and Aaron Neal. They each have 18.5 years with the Division and are devoted to community policing. They'll talk with us about what they experience as patrol officers on the South End, including the effects of poverty on children, and about the large homeless camps there, which are periodically razed.

We'll have a special guest from the City's Code Enforcement office, Mar...

"What if someone has a bigger gun than you do? What do you do then?"

"Have better aim." 

The second graders at the Books & Badges​ event at Cedarwood Elementary School had some challenging questions today for the Columbus Division of Police​ officers who read to their classes. That one was directed at 13 Precinct patrol officer Heidi Graber and had us chuckling. 

But the really tough questions were directed at Zone 2 Commander Dave Hughes. He got a few easy ones about SWAT and homicide that he...

The first graders at Lincoln Park Elementary School were treated to Books and Badges readings from Columbus Division of Police​ 13 Precinct Officer Heidi Graber and Community Liaison Officer Tim Mounts today. Their teachers chose to read Bad Kitty Does Not Like Snow. The kids in Ofc Graber's class thought it was funny that the cat was supposed to wear a coat since he already had a fur coat on. Smart kiddos! 

They had lots of questions for the officers. Ofc Graber had to explain to them how sh...

ASSIGNMENT UPDATE: We were asked to give belated Christmas presents, including basketball shoes, to a 14-year-old boy who witnessed a horrific act of violence committed by his father against his mother. Here is the original post if you missed it. 

REFERRING OFFICERS: Columbus Division of Police Officers Nicole Mancini and Tyler Hicks, 14 Precinct, Far East Side.

Thanks to your generous donations, we were able to meet up today at Easton with Officers Mancini and Hicks to go shopping with Marcus...

The Columbus Division of Police​ K-9 Unit was established in 1993. In those 27 years, the K-9's have only been deployed 67 times against subjects in a manner that resulted in bites. That mind-boggling statistic was one of many that we learned from our guest speaker, K-9 Officer David Jones, this week at our monthly meeting. 

We learned that the Division has a very strict policy about when the K-9's can be deployed. On the use of force scale, with zero being officer presence, and eight being d...

On Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, our President, Nicole Banks, was honored by CME Federal Credit Union as a Hometown Hero for her work with us, a charity dedicated to helping law enforcement officers when they identify needs in the communities they serve. This was a surprise award ceremony held at tonight's January Starfish meeting. It was orchestrated by our friends at CME, our Co-Volunteer Coordinator Shannon McCroskey Rothwell, and Columbus Division of Police K-9 Officer David Jones. K...

The second graders at Watkins Elementary School got a double treat for our Books & Badges reading today. Not only did Columbus Division of Police​ officers come to read to them--and the kids each got to keep a copy of the book--but the CPD Therapy Dog Unit​ visited as well! (We're not willing to admit which part of the event was the favorite. 🐶🐕)

Commander Rhonda Grizzell was accompanied by Sgt Chantay Boxill and Andy. Many of our Starfish volunteers have met this trio, as they've spoken at...

We had a fantastic time with the second graders of Binns Elementary School and Columbus Division of Police Deputy Chief Michael Woods today. They were so attentive and excited to hear the story of Horton Hatches the Egg. The book is a childhood favorite of the deputy chief's, and a title that, when we first mentioned the program to him last year, he instantly said he would love to read to a group of children himself, so it was really wonderful to see this event happen.

The kids loved interact...

We want to give a major Starfish shout out to Angie Denune. Angie contacted us during the height of the holiday season, asking what she could do to pitch in. We mentioned to her that Columbus Division of Police Officers Heidi Graber and Aaron Neal had come to us asking for socks, underwear, and bras for kids in their patrol area of the South Side.

With an overview of what the officers needed, Angie took to the project with amazing skill and a ton of enthusiasm. She set up a comprehensive...