The Easley Police Department held their bi-annual Cops on the Coop event at Easley’s Chick-fil-A this yesterday.
All school resource officers participated, as well as investigators, Major, both Captains, Chief Stan Whitten, the victims advocate, administrative assistant, and uniform patrol officers who accepted donations to benefit South Carolina’s Special Olympics.
The police department originally got involved with Special Olympics South Carolina in 2019 when they began doing the Polar Plunge events to help raise money for South Carolina Special Olympics athletes as the department felt it was an important cause to support.
As part of their efforts, EPD does two Cops on the Coop events and one Polar Plunge a year. They also have officers that run in the final leg of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run to the state’s capital in May.
They’ve been doing Cops on the Coop since November of 2021, and have been involved with the Polar Plunge since 2019.
Including what they collected yesterday, the department raised over $25,000 since the start 4 years ago. All of the proceeds go towards supporting SO athletes.
They were the only law enforcement agency who participated in yesterday’s Cops on the Coop event with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Torch Run (SCLETR).
The SCLETR is a collaborative effort that unites officers from law enforcement agencies and corrections departments around the state to raise money for Special Olympics.
The original Torch Run was established in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas. It was a passion project for Police Chief Richard LaMunyon to raise awareness about the Special Olympics.
EPD’s Chief Whitten was awarded the Chief Richard LaMunyon Leadership Award on March 21, 2023 for his dedication to allowing the department to participate in the aforementioned events as well as his participation in all events.
Today, more than 100,000 law enforcement officers in all 50 U.S. states, eleven Canadian provinces and 43 countries contribute to Torch Run efforts annually as “Guardians of the Flame”.