Paint with the Police builds relationships

The Art Room and the Windermere Police Department came together to host the inaugural Paint with the Police event on Saturday, Nov. 12.

The event aimed to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement through a morning of painting a special K-9 dog by local children and police officers. 

The class, led by instructor Maggie Ziglar, filled up so quickly that The Art Room opted to hold an additional session in the afternoon. 

“The event is a great opportunity, because it helps the children to know who their police officers are and to feel comfortable with them … I think that’s really important, and not just to the children but their parents and the officers as well,” Linda Ziglar, founder of The Art Room, said. “Plus, we just love our Windermere Police here, and we’re thrilled at the opportunity to have them here.”

BRIDGING THE GAP

Children ages kindergarten and older painted alongside eight WPD officers and family members, including Windermere Police Chief David Ogden, Sgt. Jeff Czwornog, Reserve Officer Jeff Bacigalupi, Reserve Officer CJ Burrell, Volunteer Coordinator Mark DeStefano, new hire Sarah Hoffmann and her husband, Chris, and Community Liaison Officer Mark Wilson.

“I’m brand new, and my main goal is to be part of the community, get involved and start meeting people,” Sarah Hoffmann said. “I want to be part of something bigger.”

Faith Gabler, 14 years old, was one of the nearly 30 students to participate in the event. 

“The police officers … they’re taking care of the area, and it’s good for the younger kids to meet them and know what they do,” she said. “I know a lot of kids also look up to them for inspiration and maybe want to be a police officer when they grow up.”

David Grier, 11, not only liked the K-9 picture but also was interested in getting to know some of the police officers. He believes it is a good idea to know them — especially when he gets older. 

“Contrary to what people see on the news or on social media, we are good people, and we care and can be fun and can be trusted,” Hoffmann said. “We want the community members, especially the kids, to know they can trust us in their environment and also in an unfamiliar environment.”

PAINTING PROPOSAL

Linda Ziglar said the idea for the event came to fruition when she was approached by Wilson.

Wilson, who joined the WPD in March 2021, became involved in community events and outreach before the end of his 22-year career as an officer in New York City.

In New York, Wilson had the opportunity to work closely with actor Tony Danza on the Police Athletic League’s Cops and Kids Chorus.

The program started after the PAL approached Danza, a professional boxer at one time, and asked him if he would get involved with starting a boxing class for the children. Wilson said Danza had asked, ‘What about the kids who are not athletic?’ With his acting background, Danza helped to pioneer the PAL’s Teen Acting Program. 

After witnessing its success, Wilson said he knew he wanted to implement something similar in Windermere. 

“We have kids that do sports, that play baseball, but what about the kids who are involved with art?” Wilson asked. “Where is their outlet to interact with the police? Because it’s all about bridging that gap throughout the nation. These bridges have been torn down with this ‘defund the police’ attitude that’s been going on around the country, and it’s not so much here because it’s a very supportive community, but it’s always about interaction and it’s always about kids knowing that cops are your friends. We’re just normal people, and you can interact with us, you can have fun with us. We want kids to know we’re a safe haven for them.”

Wilson said the neighborhood policing model in NYC drove him to approach Ogden about creating a community liaison officer position. From there, Wilson began to focus on ways for the department to become active in the community, and events became a major part of working toward the goal. 

Paint with the Police will turn into an annual event in addition to other notable WPD community engagement events such as Cops & Bobbers and Shop With A Cop. 

In the future, Wilson said he hopes to put together a Coffee With A Cop event for adults. 

“Keeping that line of communication open wherever we can is very important,” Wilson said. “Through personal interaction or through social media we want to hear from our community because we work for them. The children are the future of the community, so I think this is the perfect start.”