Blue Bridges Initiative

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Friends - it's hard to believe it's that time of year for Chrissy's 4th Annual Memorial Ride. We are hoping you can join us on August 3rd to support her family’s event for with the proceeds to benefit Ken-Ton Closet's Team 571 project named after her badge number. Captain Christine Milosich was a fierce advocate for building relationships between law-enforcement and their communities. She had a vision to model a program here similar to Blue Bridges Initiative in Cheektowaga. After she ended her courageous battle with cancer in 2021, we wanted to create something similar here in her memory. We have used the donations from this project to fund lunch with a cop, support the annual Fishing Derby (we buy equipment for children that do t have any and snacks), purchase bike locks for our school resource officers to hand out, and many other activities and encourage positive interaction between our police officers and the kids that live here. Last year, the Hawke Family decided to open this event up to the public to expand the reach.


We are asking a $20 donation to ride which includes lunch (but you don't have to ride if you just want to make a donation). We accept cash, Venmo (KenTonCloset) or check made out to Ken-Ton Closet. For more info or to register you can scan the QR code on the flyer or go to: http://bit.ly/cmride2024

Please help share this and help spread the word!r
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Town of Tonawanda Police Department
Town of Tonawanda Police Club
Village of Kenmore Police Department

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Our officers from the Cheektowaga Police Department had an amazing time at the The Miracle League WNY Law Enforcement Day Softball game yesterday. There were lots of smiles and everyone involved had a blast. All of the pictures from the event can be found on the The Miracle League WNY page for those interested. Can't wait until next year to be a part of it again!

Our officers had a great time at Maryvale Middle School’s end of year carnival! It was a great event put on by the school and their staff that we were happy to be a part of!

Our officers had a great time playing in the Cheektowaga Unites Flag Football game with the Cheektowaga Central Unified Team, the Cheektowaga Central Girls Flag Football Team, and the staff at Cheektowaga Central to benefit Special Olympics NY. We had a blast and can't wait to play in the Buffalo Bowl on June 8th!

New Police Lawn signs are in! Before the political season is upon us please consider purchasing one of the two signs below for your lawn this summer if you would like to show support for the police.

Signs are $10 dollars a piece and all proceeds go towards a local charity in the form of the Blue Mittens Project where we take less fortunate kids from all of the Cheektowaga school districts shopping at Target around Christmas time.

Signs can be purchased at the front desk of the Cheektowaga Police station.

Thanks to those of you who have already supported the cause and who continue to support our boys and girls in blue.

We had a great event with Special Olympics NY and Tully’s last night! This is one of our favorite events we do each year. Our CPD officers, the Special Olympics athletes, and the Tully’s staff all had a blast!

Special Olympics New York

We had a great time playing the Cheektowaga Central Union East teachers in a charity volleyball game today with all of the elementary school watching intently and cheering both teams on. They were super loud and we all had a blast. Can’t wait to come back!

Cheektowaga Central School District

Our CPD officers had a blast participating in the Maryvale Middle School’s Minute-To-Win-It games during their lunch periods today. The students, teachers, and officers all shared a bunch of laughs and had a great time. We can’t wait to get back to Maryvale to keep building on our outstanding partnership with them. The videos from the event are in the comments below. Maryvale UFSD

Today some of our Cheektowaga Police Officers got to take part in an amazing Blue Bridges Event put on by Cleve Hill Middle School. Check out some of the fun videos from the event in the comments below. Thank you to the Cleve Hill staff and the 6th graders for an awesome fun-filled day!

Bluebridgesinitiative.com

Home - Blue Bridges Initiative Be the Bridge. Make an impact. Support the Cause About Us Bridging the gap with our local community Blue Bridges Initiative is a non-profit organization established in New York in 2017. Our mission is to effectively bridge the gap between law enforcement and youth populations in the Town of Cheektow...

Come in out Wednesday the 9th and say hi!
We will have a table set up next to our friends from NYLEAP and many others.

Here is our QR Code linked to our Donorbox account for any charitable donations that you would like to make to Blue Bridges! Thank you!

Cheektowaga Police's National Night Out is tomorrow night at Town Park and our community services officers will have "We Support the Police" and "God Bless Our Police" Signs available at their location. They will also have information regarding Blue Bridges Initiative at their tent so feel free to stop by and say hello. Signs are $10 each and all proceeds go towards the Blue Bridges! Thank you all for the support!

Our Blue Bridges crew made a quick stop at the Cheektowaga Boys and Girls Club for an end of year pizza party and ice cream social for the kids. We wished them a happy and safe summer and told them we will see them all next year!

We even met a new Detective who wants to be a part of the Cheektowaga Police Department when he grows up!

Buffalo Bowl 2023

Tug-o-war championship

We had a blast today at the Maryvale Middle School end of year carnival. The weather couldn’t keep us from going outside to enjoy dunk tanks and tug-o-war tournaments at the 50 yard line. The Maryvale PBIS team pulled off another an incredible job for the kids at that school and they should be recognized for it. There were inflatable wipe-out games, obstacle courses, popcorn, ice cream, cotton candy, and of course tug-o-war and dunk tanks outside. The videos are posted in the comments below. Thanks to all of the officers, teachers, and of course the kids for making the event a success. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year!

Yesterday our Cheektowaga Police Officers faced off against the Cheektowaga Central Middle School teachers in a volleyball match at their Middle School pep assembly. It was a hard fought blue battle that involved an oversized beach ball at the end of our final game. A lot of fun was had by all involved and the kids were loud! Thank you so much to the Cheektowaga Central teachers and Mr. Wasner for organizing this fun event. We will see you next year. We hope all of the kids and teachers at Central have a fun and safe summer!

Today our Cheektowaga Police officers had the privilege of joining the Maryvale Unified Basketball team for their end of year awards ceremony and ice cream social. Our officers supplied the ice cream and all of the toppings while we got to join the coaches, teachers, and all of their student athletes in honoring their Unified players in a pretty cool end of the year program. We are so happy that Maryvale was able to bring the Unified program to their district and they asked for us to be a special part of it. We hope all of the Unified coaches and athletes have a great summer and we will see you next school year!

Last week on Thursday afternoon, in the aftermath of the shooting in Town Park, our Cheektowaga police officers surprised the kids at the Cheektowaga Boys and Girls Club with an ice cream truck, some super fun dodgeball games, and some arts and crafts. We wanted to show them that we were there to support them during a tough time and let them know they were safe. We had a blast and can't wait to hopefully be back before the end of the school year!

Well we got to participate in one of our favorite events again yesterday at Tullys on French Road to support Special Olympics of New York. Our Cheektowaga Police Officers along with the amazing Tullys staff and some of our great Special Olympics friends came together for a great night of fun at their “Law and Orders” event.

We hosted, bussed, and waited on tables while having lots of fun. Thank you to all of the officers and athletes who came out and a very special shoutout to the Tullys staff who is always so engaging and welcoming every single time!

Please stop in for dinner give them your support if you get a chance! Can’t wait until the next one. Torch Run and Buffalo Bowl are up next!

If anyone has any other pictures please post them in the comments. Thanks!

Last week Blue Bridges Initiative and the Cheektowaga Police Department were honored to participate in Sam's Clubs Day of Service. The entire store and their staff were truly amazing and made incredible memories for Cheektowaga Central’s Union East students. There were food trucks, bounce houses, a dunk tank, a DJ, cupcakes, and individual toys for each and every student that was able to come over from the school. Sam's Club also chose Blue Bridges Initiative as their recipient of a $1,000 donation for their Day of Service. They were truly amazing and the entire event was a humbling experience. We are so incredibly honored to partner with Sam's Club to help bridge the gap between our law enforcement officers, students, teachers, and community members. We cannot wait until the next event!

We had an awesome time hanging out with the Maryvale Middle School students today playing Minute-To-Win-It games against them during their lunch periods and giving away prizes. We will post some of the videos in the comments below!

We got to hang out with some of our good friends in March!!

Maryvale Middle School had us visit during all of their lunch periods to hang out with the kids and eat some popcorn during their Mental Health Matters week. We asked all of the kids to share at least one interesting thing about themselves and they got popcorn. Not a bad deal! Thanks to the Maryvale PBIS team for inviting us!

We also got to hang out with our good friend Julia and some of our other Special Olympics friends during Applebees Law and Order event to raise money for Special Olympics.

Next event up is at Tullys on May 10th for their “Law and Orders” event to raise money for local Special Olympic athletes!

Here is an update on the condition of Officer Troy Blackchief and the ongoing Investigation. Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Two weeks have passed since the catastrophic injuries to Cheektowaga Police Officer Troy Blackchief. Immediately following the incident, Officer Blackchief was transported to the Erie County Medical Center. Doctors determined that Officer Blackchief suffered numerous serious injuries, including a skull fracture and brain injury that required immediate surgery. Officer Blackchief remained in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit at ECMC following the surgery, heavily sedated and breathing with ventilator assistance. Over the past two weeks, Officer Blackchief’s condition has fluctuated. He has since been extubated and is intermittently sedated. Officer Blackchief has regained a level of consciousness and is limitedly communicating with family and his care providers. Yesterday, Officer Blackchief underwent a procedure to repair his carotid, and treatments will continue to address other critical injuries. It is clear that Officer Blackchief’s road to recovery will be a long and difficult.

Officer Blackchief’s family and our Cheektowaga Police Department family thank the community for your concern and support. Words cannot appropriately capture the gratitude for the doctors and nurses at ECMC, Buffalo General and the Gates Vascular Institute who have been involved with his care to date. We also thank fellow law enforcement agencies and the sport teams, fire department and club families that continue to offer support.

The investigation into the incident remains active. Our Detectives are working hard and are receiving assistance from our law enforcement partners, both local and federal. We have been in touch with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office and remain confident that those responsible for this violent crime will be held responsible. We remind the public that Crime Stoppers of WNY is providing a reward of up to $5,000 for information related to this incident and urge anyone with information to contact Lt. Albrecht at 716-686-7461.

Brian Gould
Chief of Police