Lakeville Police Department Bring 1,200 Donated Items to Toys For Tots

Every year for the past several years during the Christmas holiday season, the Lakeville Police Department has participated in the Toys for Tots program. Officer Greg Jensen has taken the lead on organizing the Lakeville Toys for Tots effort since we started our involvement. Greg has been responsible for setting up the collection boxes at various City buildings and collecting the donated toys and getting them delivered with our squads to KARE 11, so the Marines can distribute them to needy children. 

This year, collection boxes for Toys for Tots were set up in the lobby of our Police Station, Lakeville City Hall, the Central Maintenance Facility, and the Water Treatment Facility. The collection boxes were out for about a month and over that time, Lakeville residents would stop by one of the collection sites and drop off a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. 

Just over this past week the rate of donations really picked up and when Officer Jensen and a group of volunteers from the department went around to collect all the toys, they found that there were more toys than had ever been collected in the past. The toys filled two full sized pickup trucks and two squad cars, including the trunks. Officer Jensen estimated that there were over 1,200 donated toys collected in Lakeville alone this year. 

I had the opportunity to accompany the group down to the drop-off site at KARE 11 this year and was impressed to see how many police agencies from around the metro area collect donated toys for the program. It was apparent that LPD had collected a very large amount of donated toys from how full our vehicles were and one State Trooper even came up to me and commented on how many donated toys we had collected. I responded to the trooper that it was evidence of how generous our residents are in their donations to charity. 

PROPERTY MANAGERS HONORED FOR WORK WITH CRT 

This past Monday night at the Lakeville City Council meeting, I was pleased to present two property managers with the Lakeville Police Department Chief’s Partnership Award for their work with our CRT team in reducing crime and promoting public safety in their neighborhoods. The Lakeville Police Department Chief’s Partnership Award is awarded to individuals, businesses and non- profit organizations in recognition of their special efforts in partnering with the Lakeville Police Department in reducing crime and improving public safety in our community. 

Kathleen Schugel of Sand Companies, Incorporated is the on-site property manager for Lakeville Court Apartments and has worked closely with CRT Officer Bob Doerfler in managing the property to reduce crime and improve public safety. Lakeville Court Apartments hosts Minnesota Night to Unite events for their residents and works all year long with the CRT officers to improve safety in their neighborhood. 

Greg Boll is the property manager of Country View Manufactured Home Community and is also being honored for his work with CRT Officer Thor Howe this year and over the past few years in helping to reduce crime and improve public safety. Each August, the community sponsors a catered dinner for all residents in conjunction with the Minnesota Night to Unite / National Night Out activities to promote crime-free, drug-free communities. Country View is a member of Minnesota's Crime-Free Multi-Housing Program. Country View's motto is "Take Pride in Our Community."

WEEKLY LPD SNAPSHOT

Sampling of LPD activity for the week of Dec. 12 to Dec. 19, 2012 

Traffic crashes: 19 Alarms: 39 Animal Calls: 37 Medical Emergency Calls: 22 Thefts: 38 Traffic Stops: 269.