On December 12, 2019, the Hartford Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association (H.C.P.A.A.A.) presented the Hartford Police Department with a check for $25,617.56 for the continued maintenance and operation of the Hartford Police Department’s Police K-9 Unit.
Less than two years ago the H.C.P.A.A.A. set a lofty goal of raising $25,000 for our K-9 program. They then embarked on a series of volunteer fundraisers that literally left heads spinning. They hosted Brat Fry’s and Bake Sales. They sold “Icky Licky” suckers containing actual bugs! They sold merchandise including stuffed Cash dolls, Cash T-Shirts, and Cash can cozies at multiple events within our community. They raised money by bringing a Dunk Tank to town and staffing it with HPD staff, Local Officials, and other Local Celebrities. They placed donation “Dog Houses” at businesses all over the city, and they even managed to get the “real” Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus to Join Officer’s Dorn and Cash at HPD’s Scherger Hall two years in a row for pictures with Hartford kids!
At the first session of every Citizens Police Academy Chief Groves explains to the cadets that one of the major goals of the program is not just to share information, but also to fundamentally change perceptions over the 10-week program. He tells the cadets that he wants them to stop thinking of HPD as “THE police department,” and start thinking of it as “MY police department.” The H.C.P.A.A.A.’s commitment and dedication to this fundraising effort demonstrates that we have succeeded in that regard!
Chief Groves had this to say about the H.C.P.A.A.A.’s accomplishment, “Amazing, yes. Surprising, not at all. The commitment of the alumni folks stems from the relationships that have been forged between our staff and our community over the years. The H.C.P.A.A.A. are an important part of the HPD family.” He went on to state, “That is just an example of the many reasons that the walls of our department, the doors of every Hartford squad car, and even the badges of every Hartford officer bear the words “COMMUNITY PROUD.”
These funds came from countless organizations, businesses, and individuals young and old here in Hartford. Hartford is full of generous, community minded people. This amazing achievement reiterates the fact that Cash is HARTFORD’s dog!