HJM Unity Day

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Contributed photo Unity Day was celebrated Wednesday, Oct. 16, in recognition of October and National Bullying Prevention Month. HJM Elementary School students wear orange to support the message of building unity through kindness, acceptance and inclusion to prevent bullying. Pictured are students in Gabrielle Roberts’ class.


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By CJ Vetter Port Lavaca Police Department’s (PLPD) littlest officer may be hard to spot around the festive season — but his work has gotten the city some serious recognition during the 2024 Texas Municipal League’s 2024 Conference and Exhibition. During the event, the city was awarded the 2024 Municipal Excellence Award for city spirit for those cities with under 25,000 in population for the police department’s Lil’Cop in the Shops initiative. Centered around PLPD’s ‘Officer P.R. Elf,” the program emulated the popular Elf on the Shelf Christmas tradition, but with a business-friendly twist. “We just got back from the annual TML conference where the city of Port Lavaca was awarded a TML Municipal Excellence Award for cities under 25,000. We won the city spirit award and that is due to an initiative that the police department came up with,” Port Lavaca City Manager Jody Weaver said. “The original idea came from Evelyn Eure and McCall Dooley, dispatchers with the Department. They wanted to hide an oversize elf on a shelf dressed as a police officer in random parts of town,” Rangnow said. “Of course, the concern is that he would never make it back to the police department. So, we built off of that idea and decided to hide him in small locally owned businesses.” Beginning last year, Officer P.R. Elf was hidden at a participating local business. Using clues about his location that were shared via the PLPD’s Facebook page, participants were tasked with finding him. Once found, Officer P.R. Elf could then be brought back to the PLPD for a prize so long as a purchase was made at the business in question. “We put out clues every day at 10 a.m. and then everybody would go out and look for them. They would have to purchase something from the actual business and bring him back to the police department for an award, and of course, we’d take a picture with the super sleuth who found him,” Rangnow said. According to PLPD Chief Colin Rangnow, the program served as a way to create positive interactions between law enforcement and the public while also promoting local stores and businesses. “It was an instant hit with the public. The department’s Facebook page had a significant amount of views, shares and comments during the program,” Rangnow said. “I feel there was a definite improvement between small business owners and law enforcement. The process of signing the business up provided an opportunity to have open dialogue about the program but also any other concerns they may have had. Toward the end of the program the youngsters became the super sleuths and located P.R. Elf. When they came in to claim their prize, it provided an opportunity to have positive interaction with the Department’s officers.” “We appreciate the efforts on your behalf to make the police department a real part of our community,” Port Lavaca Mayor Jack Whitlow said. “TML’s Municipal Excellence Awards recognize and encourage the achievements of Texas cities in meeting the challenge of municipal governance.  Innovative problem-solving, excellence in management, increasing citizen participation, and reaching higher service levels are all daily occurrences in Texas cities, and they deserve recognition,” A TML press release stated. “This awards program seeks out the best of these programs to honor.” For further information about TML and the awards program, contact Jacqueline Redin at 512-231-7400 or jredin@tml.org.  “Officer P.R. Elf will return this year, starting Dec.1. We plan on featuring locally owned small businesses in the community. We hope to have bigger and better prizes in the goody bags. If any business would like to participate or donate prizes they can contact Karen Neal at Port Lavaca Police Department at 361-552-3788 or kneal@portlavaca.org,” Rangnow said.
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