Event’s focus is awareness

Portland and Jay County residents will get a chance to learn about bullying and meet representatives from local safety agencies.
An anti-bullying and public safety event is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday in the Jay County High School parking lot between the softball and soccer fields. It will include representatives from local police and fire departments and other safety agencies as well as anti-bullying group Team Bully Response Squad.
Josh Stephenson of Portland Police Department organized the event in part to give residents a chance to meet in an informal setting those who they can go to if they have a public safety problem. He also noted that discussions about bullying are important in the effort to create a safe society.
“A lot of people realize the county has a lot of public safety, however they may have not been able to actually introduce themselves to them (and) may not know what all it takes in Jay County to actually have our public safety,” said Stephenson. “And public safety is not specifically geared toward law enforcement. It encompasses a whole, broader spectrum.”
That spectrum includes Jay County Emergency Medical Service, county fire departments, Lutheran Air, local, county, state and federal law enforcement, the military and public works departments.
Attendees can speak with representatives from the agencies that will explain their role, equipment their department uses and basic safety education like protecting personal property and dealing with drugs and narcotics. (He noted that anyone who finds a syringe should call police rather than trying to dispose of it on their own.)
“Some of the simplest things people can do right now with the surrounding crime is lock a door,” Stephenson said.
Team Bully Response Squad, founded in 2012 by St. Louis police officer Sean Wade, has been to several states to perform interventions for youth experiencing bullying.
Wade said policing not being an easy job but in St. Louis there are a lot of good cops doing commendable things for the community despite imperfection of the city.
Wade and his team came to visit the boys and girls clubs at Jay Community Center in January to discuss anti-bullying. Stephenson reached out to him to attend Saturday’s event and discuss how local law enforcement and other agencies can provide additional help to families dealing with the problem.
The affects of bullying extend beyond just the victim to family and friends as well, Wade said. He believes communities, schools and law enforcement should be readily available to help when someone feels he or she is being treated unfairly.
In Portland, Stephenson said he doesn’t know how residents currently view the public safety system, but noted this will be an event to allow for citizens “to see us in a more personal manner than on the road.”
“I think it shows how law enforcement works as a whole,” said Wade. “It really doesn’t make a difference if we’re talking about Portland or if we’re talking about St. Louis. We’re all agencies that come together for the common good of people.”