For the third time in four years, the Joint Police Advisory Council hosted BBQ on the Bricks, an event focusing on connecting students with local police departments.
Officers from the Ohio University Police Department, the Athens Police Department, Athens County Sheriff’s Office, Athens Code Enforcement Office and Ohio State Highway Patrol were all present at the event, which took place outside Baker University Center.
Sheriff Rodney Smith said the goal of the event was to create a stronger community by bringing people together.
“We do it for today, and we’ve done it for quite a while,” Smith said. “We’ve joined forces in Athens Police Department and State Patrol. We increase our resources and it only makes us stronger as a community when we work together.”
Smith said he would like for community members and students to meet officers and interact with them.
“It helps out everybody, and I think the reasoning for today is we want to meet people and let us know it’s not us against them, it’s just us,” Smith said. “Our core value is that we want to protect our communities and let them know that we’re here to serve them.”
State Highway Patrol Trooper B. Nihiser said he also had similar goals to interact with the community. He believes events are a great way to foster a relationship between police and the community.
“We work with all other agencies and the sheriff's office, OUPD and APD,” Nihiser said. “It’s a good environment for us to get out, talk to people, let people know what we’re about and have a good time with the community.”
City Council Member Peter Kotses, D-At Large, said BBQ on the Bricks is a great way to watch the community outreach between the city and Ohio University.
“They’ve done this for quite a few years and it’s always good,” Kotses said. “It’s always a good turnout and the atmosphere is really, really nice.”
Student Senate President Landen Lama is a member on JPAC, and said the purpose of the event is to highlight the work police do, and to highlight the police officers. Lama said BBQ on the Bricks gives students the opportunity to connect with officers on a level that they would normally not be able to.
“One of (Student Senate’s) main jobs is to bridge the divide between community and administrators,” Lama said. “Police officers on campus are considered administrators on campus in my eyes. We want to be able to bridge the divide between students and police. We provided beverages and money, but I serve on the council.“
Along with BBQ on the Bricks, the APD also invited New Beginnings Animal Center to hold a dog adoption event.
New Beginnings representative Wayne Boyd said New Beginnings Animal Center is a 501C3 public charity in Athens, and is the only animal rescue in Southeastern Ohio that is completely volunteer based.
“Every dog here needs a home,” Boyd said. “Some of these dogs here actually came from Texas. Some of them are flood victims, some of them are owner-surrender flood victims, some of them were in shelters from before the storm and some of them are regular and local.”
Athens Police Captain Ralph Harvey said he had brought up the idea of dog adoption at a JPAC meeting, and it went through with the rest of the committee.
“Anytime they can get strays or pets possibly a new home, or attention to this issue,” Harvey said. “There are a lot of strays in this county, and (New Beginnings Animal Center) does amazing work to get people hooked up with them.”
