BlueBridge Alliance provides the backing and puts information at officers’ fingertips to strengthen the relationship between the community and law enforcement.
Online PR News – 02-October-2022 – Seattle, WA – Bluebridge Alliance, based in WA, proudly announces their new law enforcement community-giving platform. The pilot program was recently deployed and activated within local law enforcement in eight municipalities throughout WA with the idea of going statewide and eventually nationwide. It is a humanitarian effort that provides funding assistance, technology, model policies and guidelines, procedural templates, training materials, and community advocacy to help empower officers to use those provided resources with minimal administrative impediments. Officers can use the funds at their discretion for community outreach to make a positive impact. The assistance officers can provide could come in many forms such as food, shelter, clothing, fuel, auto repairs, transportation, or any other means of support that would help relieve the immediate crisis or just to make a community connection.
The essential relationships between the community and law enforcement can be strengthened by providing police officers with the resources needed to help community members they encounter in distress when in the field. That’s where BlueBridge Alliance comes in, to not only provide the backing but to also put information at the officers’ fingertips in regard to what assets are available.
“A small gesture can make a huge difference in someone’s life,” said Brian Spracklen, CEO, BlueBridge Alliance. “We are proud to offer this program to help law enforcement men and women continue to do the great work they do each day. The officers may never know the full difference they made, but the gratitude the peace officers receive is unmeasurable.”
BlueBridge Alliance’s program was in development over the last two years and is now deploying in numerous municipalities and communities throughout the state. The overarching goal is to have BlueBridge Alliance deploying nationwide in late 2023.
The local law enforcement that have adopted the BlueBridge Alliance program in WA include:
· Kent Police Department
· Kirkland Police Department
· Moses Lake Police Department
· Pullman Police Department
· Suquamish Tribal Police Department
· Wenatchee Valley (Including City of Wenatchee Police Department and the City of East Wenatchee Police Department)
The catalyst to create the non-profit came from a police incident in 2011. A respected San Diego Police Officer patrolling an underserved community was recorded by surveillance video at a fast-food restaurant buying food for a young neighborhood boy he had never before met. Minutes later, the officer was mortally wounded in an unprovoked attack by an assassin who had no apparent motive other than his desire to kill a police officer. The officer’s passing was an unfathomable tragedy, but his last act of kindness inspired the question, “What if all officers had the resources to perform random acts of kindness for people at moments when they are most vulnerable?”
What started out in Kennewick, Washington by Police Chief Ken Hohenberg (Ret.), the concept evolved into BlueBridge Alliance. Co-Founded by Brian Spracklen, Police Chief Hohenberg and other well-known law enforcement leaders, with the support of community and business leaders, this new innovative program provides the resources for law enforcement community outreach. Since its inception, the program has offered interim relief to over 600 individuals and families. It is BlueBridge’s desire to inspire each city’s law enforcement department to implement these services and other similar public service programs to communities locally and nationwide.
Through this BlueBridge pilot program, each law enforcement entity gets seed money in the way of a grant to distribute at the grassroots community officer level when he/she is in the field over the next three-months. The goal is to have each agency establish an ongoing program within each municipality and become self-sufficient via local and community donations. BlueBridge platform has made it turn-key for interested agencies. They also serve as a clearinghouse for national and state funding, as well as for grants from private endowments.
The needs Bluebridge Alliance wants to fulfill with their program fall under this three-fold premise.
1. Immediate short-term assistance to those in critical need. Intervention by a caring community in the form of a modest investment to address an urgent need may well avoid an individual’s or family’s downward spiral of despair.
2. Improved public relationships with law enforcement officers and agencies. The police simply cannot succeed in their mission “to protect and to serve” without the support of the communities in which they operate. Facilitating the ability of law enforcement to assist members of the community in a non-enforcement context can help mend the frayed relationship that all too often now exists.
3. Positive impact on police morale and organizational culture. Officers routinely engage with fundamentally good people who are at a low point in their lives. Giving them the means to intervene to produce positive outcomes affirms and reinforces their service ethos and renews their sense of purpose.
Interested law enforcement agencies or police foundations are encouraged to inquire at https://bluebridgealliance.org/interested-agencies-and-departments/. If you would like to help fund this program please visit https://bluebridgealliance.org/donate/.
About BlueBridge Alliance:
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit program, BlueBridge Alliance is a non-partisan, apolitical, nonsectarian organization which upholds the value and dignity of all individuals regardless of ethnicity, race, color, creed, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, hair color, coffee brand, sexual orientation, gender identity or any veteran’s status. The aim is to support on-the-spot aid to those in need and strengthen trust and relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve. For more information visit https://bluebridgealliance.org