Welcome everyone to Midday magazine for this Monday, July 29th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here and we're welcoming into the studio.
Our good friend Detective Sergeant Eric Davin is with us right now from the Wisconsin
Travis Police Department.
Eric, always good to see you.
Good to see you too. Thanks for having us.
I appreciate the time as always, at first and foremost,
want to thank you, your teammates and everybody that you keeping our area safe,
doing all the great work that you guys do in this community.
We appreciate you. We see you. We thank you.
And we get to talk a little baseball, right?
We're going to know what kind of talking about baseball a little bit here.
We're going to talk about Wisconsin's rap as rafters and local law enforcement agencies
teaming up for national night out at Winterfield coming up on August 3rd.
Yeah, August 3rd. I have that right.
6th August 6th. I'm sorry at 3 o'clock at 3 o'clock.
That's the three. That's what I was thinking of August 6th.
And we're going to get those details out to a bunch of times in this conversation.
But Eric, if you don't mind, I'd like to rewind a little bit because every year
we get together for this. I like to look into this event and you can go to
natw.org, natw.org to find out more about national night out in the history of this.
It's a fascinating history, man.
Yeah, it started back in 84. It looks like kind of all over the country,
but here in Wisconsin rapids, we've done it on and off for the last 10, 15 years,
at least that I know of.
But just a nationwide date to kind of all get together communities.
There's different things that people do all over the country.
Or maybe unique that we have a baseball game afterwards.
Some have a movie, some have, you know, get together, a cookout.
It's just a way for the community and you kind of started as law enforcement,
but we've really expanded that to community partners.
We call it everybody that is in the community for the community.
Kind of get together and just open conversation, talk, meet, get to know your
neighbor kind of a kind of a thing.
If I, if I could, because I love history and I think that this is such a unique
and cool event, encourage people to check this out and look at the history of
this. You'll meet Matt from Philadelphia, Philadelphia suburb that really
got the ball rolling on this and a little bit later in the early 80s,
creating the association of town watches.
So I don't know how many people know that the history of that stems from this
as well. And it all is from one idea from one police officer in a department
and not even necessarily a big city or anything like that.
I think that that part is so unique and interesting about this.
And is still even all these decades later still at the essence of this event
of the idea of an officer seeing his community and be like,
I want my community to feel comfortable coming to me and I want to be
comfortable going to my community. That building that bridge and keeping that
bridge strong is such an essence of this event.
Yeah, I think it just kind of shows to that someone from a small area
can have such a national impact.
You know, kind of when you were talking about that, it brought me to the
you know, the idea of special Olympics and how law enforcement is very
involved with that.
You know, having one police chief, you know, start that mission, start that
torturing and now it's an international program.
So, you know, just one people always say they can't have an impact,
but one person can have an impact, you know, big or small.
It's going to impact somebody.
So that's kind of our thought for us at National Night Out.
We can meet a few people and, you know, have those connections
when we need them.
It's a great point. I appreciate that. That's a great point.
Let's talk about the event because you guys at a Rapids Police
Department and that can be alone.
You're going to have some company with you down there.
Yeah.
So kind of one maybe change for this year is we kind of partnered
with the rafters hearing Wisconsin rap.
But so the last couple of years we've been in the parking lot across
few church and we've kind of maybe hit the limits of that space,
which is good.
So the rafters kind of approached us and said,
Hey, we have a space and they liked the idea and they've
Roscoe's been coming down for a few years when when they're available.
So this year we're actually going to have the event at Winterfield.
It's going to be on Tuesday, August six from three o'clock to six o'clock.
And through a generous donation from Gamber Johnson,
they're out of Stevens Point.
Anybody that attends National Light Out from that three to six
provides an email address.
They'll get a free ticket to the baseball game at 635 with the rafters.
And that kind of plays into their back the blue baseball game.
So it's kind of a whole afternoon,
but anyway, it comes at National Light Out.
It's a free ticket to the game first of entertainment afterwards.
Yeah.
It's really cool.
A shout out to the rafters for putting back into this community,
wanting to host this event.
A big shout out to Gamber Johnson doing that and going above and beyond
as a sponsor and wanting to how much it means to them to be a part of this event
as well, I imagine.
I'm sure if we talked to some members over there,
they would just turn it right back at you guys and say,
No, we appreciate you and be a back and forth of the thank you so that
we've been in, you know, seen before.
There are your guys are also going to have some other company down there.
We're going to have other police departments and other groups.
Yeah.
So we have quite a list here.
So obviously Rapids Police Department,
Grand Rapids Police Department, Port Edwards Police Department,
Rapids Fire,
Grand Rapids Fire.
Let's make sure I get them all probation and parole.
Canadian CN Railroad Police State Patrol,
Wood County Dispatch, Wood County Sheriff's Department,
Wood County Jail and the new therapy dog,
Wood County Rescue.
So those are some of our law enforcement side.
And they're going to bring all the equipment that they have.
So I heard the Sheriff's Department was going to bring their big armored vehicle
and their new boat.
And so a lot of kind of show and tell stuff to see the equipment.
I know our special response team might be coming down with some of their equipment as well.
So kind of, this is what we have.
This is what, you know, kind of out there for people to see and talk and, you know,
have those conversations.
But then we also kind of invited a lot of our community partners.
We call them.
So different groups that are, you know, nonprofits are just trying to get their word out to help
spread the, we're all in it together kind of a community.
So like the Family Center, mission coffee, Macmillan Library,
visit Wisconsin Rapids, the Chamber, UW Extension,
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Club, Mid-State Law Enforcement,
United Way, Safe Kids Wood County, the Hannah Center,
K9 Emergency Response Team, the Ham Radio Operators,
Central Sands, Amateur Radio Operators,
and possibly the Army National Guard, too, coming out.
Yeah, we have a pretty good group.
So, and then some of the kind of maybe entertainment stuff.
So we have, their actors are going to open up their field beforehand.
So people can get food there.
They can have all the bounce ounces for the kids.
We're going to have a balloon artist there that's going to do balloons for kids
and face painting for my heart studio.
So a lot of things that, you know, you can stop at this booth,
talk to these guys, you don't go do this and kind of make your way around.
Yeah.
Eric, we just this past weekend wrapped up the Family Center such a truck event.
It heard great things about it.
Shout out to the community supporting the Family Center and the great work that they're doing over there.
And certainly, I know that you and some of the staff were down there.
Not used necessarily, but some of the staff were down there.
Were you down there?
Were you able to make it?
I wasn't there to speak about my son once.
Okay.
Cool. Right on.
Very good to hear. Very good to hear.
We know that the police department was represented down there,
had some vehicles and everything.
And one of the things we are talking about with the Family Center on air,
off air is certainly the idea of bringing, you know, these events
and how we can make domestic violence more and more a thing that we are able to share information with each other.
And there is no hushed voices.
And we bring these things more open and kids seeing some of this and seeing us talk about these things
and feeling more comfortable themselves as they get older.
And hopefully they never have to touch the subject.
But if they do, they are confident going to a police officer, going to an adult and talking about it.
And building that bridge, it's such an integral part of this.
Because it's, yes, it's important that we have this.
And there's no community that couldn't strengthen their bond more and more between their law enforcement and community.
But another side part of this that I think is very interesting and really important is something
Sheriff Becker and I have talked about a lot.
And I've actually talked a lot about it with a lot of officers off the air about the idea of creating that spark in a young mind.
You know, a kid comes here and sees this and they're having fun and they're seeing adults having a good time
and treating police officers just like they're another person because they are.
Just a reminder to everybody out there, the badge doesn't change that.
But also the idea of kids seeing all this and a spark in their head.
And like, well, I want to do that.
I want to work in law enforcement. I want to help my community.
We need more and more of the good people getting into these industries and we need more and more people seeing that this is a good job.
This is a good thing to do.
Here is an opportunity for that.
And I know that that's not the essence of this night.
But it sure is a nice silver lining, a nice added bonus to it.
Yeah, I think you can really put a face and something to your community.
You know, kids can watch stuff on TV or YouTube or see different things.
But to see the actual person that's going to respond to the person, the equipment that they see.
You may feel awkward, you see a squad car at Walmart, you know, if they're busy or not.
But you know, this is the time to come ask those questions.
You know, sit in the front seat, sit in the back seat so you don't know what it's like.
See, you know, see the equipment so you know who that person is.
And the same with all of our other community partners, you know, those are those people that are there for all of us.
So, you know, families intervened one of our biggest ones too that we're so intertwined with our work and their work and trying to communicate, which has been really great.
So not only community members making those connections, but also, you know, even these different groups seeing each other at this event, kind of talking about it.
And you don't know the web of connections that can be made.
It's another great point.
The idea of this being in a, not only a community event, but an event for people to be able to touch base with each other and maybe talk or organizations that haven't met before or anything or just sharing information is so vital.
One of the things that I'm so proud of of this area, and I've talked with Terry Johns a lot about this, is the idea that our area is, and our nonprofits are not necessarily crabs in a barrel trying to just reach and grab that dollar.
But more so helping each other and assisting, oh, you guys have, you're doing this, well, we'll do this and working together.
That's part of why I believe our community is not only so strong, but why are our last six, seven years have been a little different than some communities when you consider the pandemic and some of these other factors.
I think it all ties up and all adds up to our community being pretty darn strong and showing that to the rest of the world, really the rest of certainly our state.
When it comes to this event, I feel like we've kind of touched on this a little bit, but the specifics of why this event takes place, Eric, why we do this every year on this day and not just here in our county and our area, but around the world, or I should say around the United States.
Yeah, it's just kind of bringing those community partnerships together, bringing those building those relationships to have them, have them now that person may not see that officer or see an officer for hopefully a very long time.
But in five years, I remember that officer, I can approach them, or like you were kind of mentioned about the kids, they can see an officer drive by in a squad car, but it's different to get a sticker from that.
You know, that little sticker is nothing to some, but to that kids, that was their day, that was their week.
And sometimes we give them the extra, so mom's happy, so they have a few after they go through the wash, but it's just those connections, that community partnership, that transparency being open to the conversations.
We're here, we're open, and we want to talk to you, and what's the best way that our community as a whole can serve everybody.
Not just the police department, but as a group, and talk about the nonprofits working together, you're working on this, we're not going to step on toes, and the kind of same with law enforcement and these other groups.
We're all working together at the end of the day, if there's something major, we're all involved, and we have to have those connections and the relationships in place beforehand.
I was talking about this, I think a week or two ago, with Sheriff Becker, and we were talking about some other events that have gone on, and I mentioned a number of times on the year, I think you and I even talked about this.
I was much older when I finally had a good experience with the police officer, where I was from, and the things that I dealt with, and such, hadn't experienced a lot of that.
And that is a two-way street that is not me pointing the finger at the Chicago Police Department, because I was a knucklehead, so it goes both ways.
But I come out here, and I expect that, I expect to deal with what I've always dealt with, and I will never forget I'm playing with my friends, and we're kind of on the sidewalk or something,
because God car comes over, and all the other guys were going to rush over to the car, and I didn't know if I should run, I didn't know if I should get down on my knees, I'm 10, 12 years old, and that's my reaction, that was my feelings.
And this officer kind of joked with me a little bit about it, so you're flying and all that, and hand me baseball cards.
And it's something that kids around here grow up around, they experience it all the time, for me, I might as well have been on a different planet.
Like I never felt anything like that before, and it took me weeks to kind of like understand what had just happened.
I had just had an interaction with the police officer, and it was perfectly fine, and everything was great, and this guy treated me really good.
It took a lot of those kind of situations for me to finally get to a place where you and I are hanging out, or you and I are talking, or anything like that, and I don't have any of those feelings anymore, I don't have any of that or anything.
I'm not alone in this, there's lots of people like that.
I think our community, I don't want to say spoiled, but I think our community is very, especially if you grow up around here, maybe you don't know a lot of these things, in the importance of what Eric and I are talking about, but that bridge, that bond, is so important to the future.
Right now matters, certainly, but I always think about kids, and I think about the idea of a kid not feeling comfortable, and that's something none of us want in our society.
These events matter, they go that much farther in creating more and more of a bond where a kid is not going to grow up thinking or worrying about that kind of stuff.
They're going to reach out to an officer if they need to.
I know what it means to me, what it means to, as in essence, what the event does, I'm curious, not to have you speak for your whole department or anything.
But what does it mean to you? What do you hear from your fellow officers about what this event means to you guys?
Yeah, I think also maybe just personally, I really enjoy the event and being able to make those connections, and you remember that incident with the baseball cards just a few years ago, I'm sure.
And how much of an impact that has you on to this day, but also kind of a reminder of those negative impacts can, if they build up, they can have impact as well.
I go back to my time as a school resource officer in a full uniform in the school, sometimes kids would see you and they would just turn the other way because their experience was not good.
So trying to, you know, just be there, just be a presence and, you know, you may, first couple weeks, may just be a wave to them, you know, and then slowly, you know, making comments, you know, where you can open up to that.
So kind of getting back to the event, I think it's just that making those connections and you don't know the impact that it has today.
It obviously fills our bucket, fills our ability to, you know, meet some of the people in the community that we might not be able to meet every day.
Same as people don't really see us, we kind of see with deal with kind of a certain group or people, you know, on a regular basis, well, we don't get to see the people that are happy to see us or.
And it all comes with the job and that, but this is one of the best parts of the jobs of being able to see the kids interact with the adults and just kind of be open and then talking.
It's something that's lost on a lot of us citizens and I'm glad you brought that up because you, as much as anybody else out there, deserve good moments at work, even with, especially with what you guys deal with on a day-to-day basis.
So having a day that you could look forward to, an event you could look forward to, we need more of those and that's great to hear.
And you brought up some really strong points there too about what this does is I focus so much on law enforcement with this and you're focusing on the nonprofits.
And that's such a, I hope people are hearing that and they're seeing that.
Every time we talk about this event, that's what you or whoever comes in to talk to us is what the focus goes to. No, it's not about us, it's about them.
That's the heart of a law enforcement agent, man. That's what's defending our city. That's what's protecting our community.
Don't forget that, everybody. These are human beings behind that badge. These are people. These are our neighbors. These are our friends.
These are people that look out for us. Let's look out for them. Let's do right by them and attend this event to be a part of these kind of events.
Give, you know, have a chance to interact with some people that you might not interact with otherwise.
I'm also curious, Eric, before we let you go is I know that oftentimes we have new people joining the force.
This is a great opportunity for them to get to know the community a little bit better to and get out there.
Yeah, we have a pretty young department. So, you know, it goes both ways for them to kind of see those these types of events.
But then all for also maybe see some of the people they don't see that are working night shift or those different, you know, you they look a lot different from up in person.
Then just seen in a in a squad car window. So, yeah, come to the event, ask any questions, talk to us.
Anything that's, you know, been burned in your mind. Hey, next time I see somebody I want to ask that, you know, just we're an open book.
If we don't know the answer, we'll we'll find it and get it to you.
How are the uniforms comfortable? I don't know if that's a joke.
It depends on the weather. It looks like it might be a little hot. So, you know, if it's hot and sunny, the parking lot over at Crossview is always kind of asphalt right in the middle.
So, maybe we'll have a little bit of shade. We're going to kind of to work a part work on parking with the construction there.
But it looks like it's opening up a little bit with being able to put some people in different spots. So, we'll be have a nice area to walk around.
So, one question I did have about the parking and some of that going on over there. It does sound like that. It has, like you said, it has opened up a little bit. There is some parking.
I would imagine if you have gone to a rafter game or you've heard of how to get to the rafters, that's pretty much just follow that lines and follow those directions.
Yeah, most of our equipment I think is going to be in that front parking lot by Old Lincoln High School East Jr. High, maybe in that grass area as well.
So, you know, the Aquatics parking lot is a good spot to park, kind of off of Apple Street on the backside there or even, you know, a lot of people park along Chestnut or down by Assumption High School.
So, there's a lot of parking in the area. So, just find a spot to park and look for the lights and enzymes as well.
Yeah, you can't miss it. Eric, one more time, would you mind going over the details when the event is and where it's taking place?
Yeah, so this year's National Light Out is going to be August 6th from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock at Witterfield.
We're going to have bounce houses, balloon maker, face painting, ballpark food and a lot of display items for everyone to see and come look at.
This will be a part of the Back to Blue game featuring an officer Roscoe Bobblehead giveaway. I got to get one of those Bobbleheads. I got to add it to my collection over here, man.
And also want to send a big, big shout out to Gamber Johnson, who is helping sponsor the event and making it so that if you go to the event, give your email address.
You can get a free ticket to that night's game. That is pretty cool and a big tip of the hat to them. Keep in mind the concession, concession special by one, get one popcorn. That is always nice. If you and the kids, that's a great one.
You can get your tickets at Northwoodsleague.com. Of course, Northwoodsleague.com and follow your rafters right here at WFHR and be a part of the event. We'll meet you down there for National Night Out at Witterfield Tuesday, August 6th.
Thank you, Eric, not only for what you do for our community, but putting up with me and my questions like you do every year. I appreciate you.
Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
We'll have more Midday Magazine coming up for you throughout the week here at 97.5 FM 13.20 AM WFHR. We are locally grown radio.