Run provides $25,000 for police equipment
A nonprofit group will contribute $25,000 raised from the Pear Run to provide equipment to the Pearland Police Department.
The recent Pear Run at the Town Center will provide $25,000 toward a local group’s goal to provide equipment to Pearland police that they otherwise wouldn’t receive.
The nonprofit Pearland Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association can contribute that amount to the Pearland Police Department after deducting expenses from the $75,000 raised through the May 9 run, which drew 936 runners, group president Billy Pyeatt said.
The group also recently spent $16,000 on eight fully equipped Cannondale 29er Law Enforcement 1 patrol bicycles that will be used by the Pearland Police Department Bike Patrol Unit, which recently expanded from six part-time positions to 16.
The expanded bike unit will make a difference on the street, Pearland police officials say.
“With the expansion of the bike patrol unit, we’ll be able to address additional community policing initiatives such as providing support during large city events, busy shopping seasons and on periodic patrols within neighborhoods, parks, businesses and multifamily complexes,” police Capt. Chad Randall said in a press release. “The bicycles make the officers more approachable and allow for more positive one-on-one contact with citizens. The bikes are also stealthy and can be used for targeted enforcement actions where foot patrols are too slow and patrols in police cars are too noticeable.”
Other association expenditures this year have included $3,500 for the department’s honor guard to attend National Police Week events in Washington, D.C., and Austin in May and $4,100 for the Accident Investigation Unit to upgrade equipment, said Stacey Glaesmann, a member of the alumni association’s Pear Run Committee.
Last year, the association purchased rifle sights and a storage box for the department’s K-9 unit.
Other purchases in 2014 were for a vending machine for the police department’s staff and a riding lawnmower to maintain the department’s gun range.
During the last five years, the Pear Run has raised almost $100,000, including more than $30,000 last year.
Another fundraising activity is a gun raffle started two years ago.
Before this year’s run, the organization had approximately $70,000 in its general fund, but that money had dwindled as more funding requests come from the police department, Pyeatt said.
The association’s 13-member board votes on funding projects. Police department funding requests that come before the association are first signed off on by Police Chief J.C. Doyle.
“Our thinking is if police chief thinks it is a good use of money, then we probably are going to think it is a good use of money,” Pyeatt said.
Last year, Doyle asked the association to purchase tourniquets to go in all of the department’s police vehicles.
Tourniquets are used in medical emergency situations to stop arm or leg blood flow due to a trauma injury.
Pyeatt said the alumni association does more than spend money on the police department.
“The other component is volunteering,” he said.
The group’s members, who number more than 250, help the department with nonpolicing activities such as traffic control during city events and transportation of police cruisers back and forth to the city’s vehicle maintenance shop. Members also help with administrative paperwork and patrol parking lots to report violators.
Last year, the association negotiated the purchase of a 15-passenger van with the city.
The van is used for the association’s parking lot patrols and to transport members to events.
The members also help educate the community about the work of the department.
“Quite frankly, the average citizen’s interaction with the police is when they see the red-and-blue lights flashing behind them when they are speeding or if they’ve been a victim of a crime,” Pyeatt said.
The group provides speakers to homeowners associations about crime prevention. The organization also has conducted child fingerprinting programs.
“We just do different things to help bridge that gap between the community and the police department,” Pyeatt said.
To join the alumni association, members must have gone through the Citizens Police Academy, which is celebrating its 20th year. The next academy class will begin in August.
Class participants will learn about officer survival, patrol procedures, SWAT, gangs, criminal investigations, traffic laws, juvenile laws and the penal code.
The class is free. Participants must be at least 18 years old unless they are 17 and attend with an adult family member.
All participants must pass a background check and complete an application.
To sign up for the academy, fill out an online application form at www. pcpaaa.com.
For additional information, contact the department’s community service officer, Daniel Hamminga, at 281-997-4171, email dhamminga@pearlandtx.gov, or visit the academy’s website.