Dodgeball, teens, police officers builds bonds between WPD, youth
Outside of the cafeteria, there are posters with details about the event as well as a group of students from either the Westport Youth Commission or TAG selling tickets.
The whistle blows and suddenly the Staples field house is scattered with students and Westport police officers hurling balls at each other. This could only mean one thing, it’s the annual dodge-a-cop event.
For over a decade, Westport Youth Commission and Teen Awareness Group (TAG) have worked together to organize a dodgeball tournament with the Westport Police Department (WPD) to bring their officers and Westport youth together. This year’s dodge-a-cop took place on Monday Nov. 21 at 5:30 p.m. Putting this event together is no easy task.
The preparations include advertising, coordinating with the Westport Police Department, selling tickets and ensuring that there is sports equipment, along with referees. On the day of the event, students are made into groups of five and assigned one of WPD’s officers to complete their team. Staples high school’s resource officer Ed Wooldridge recalls the event to be an enjoyable experience for him and the students.
“It’s always a fun atmosphere, it’s fun to see the cops get very excited to get teamed up with the students here,” Wooldridge said. “It was a good turnout. We had a lot of teams and volunteers that helped ref the game and it was just fun watching the kids get along with the cops and play.”
Caroline Caggiano ’23, one of the leaders of Westport Youth Commission, finds all of the preparations to be worth it for the bridge between Westport youth and the WPD that Westport Youth Commission and TAG are able to help create.
“It is important to establish a positive relationship between police and youth so the youth are aware that the police have our best interests at heart and are most concerned with our safety,” Caggiano said.
Tickets for the event will be sold during all lunch waves this week with a portion of the proceeds going to Homes with Hope, a Westport based charity with the mission of putting an end to homelessness in Fairfield county. Jordy Greenspan ’24, a member of the Westport Youth Commission, encourages people to buy tickets.
“Dodge a Cop is such a fun way to bond with the Westport community and police through friendly competition,” Greenspan said.
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