EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WEHT) — Hundreds of people came to show their support during the Evansville Police Department’s 8th annual ‘SWAT Challenge.”
“We support our brothers in blue and it’s a good way to do it,” says Mike Doran, a Deputy Fire Marshall with the Evansville Fire Department.
Doran says the fire department sends a team to the challenge every year to show EPD they have officers’ backs.
“Even though the SWAT team needs money for equipment and things like that, it’s just as much as support for them,” Doran says.
Jeremy McCrarey is an EPD SWAT officer and has organized the challenge for several years. He says it is a good way to connect with the community face to face.
“We don’t want to be known as just the big bad SWAT team, We want to be able to let people know what we do and how we do and why it is so important for us to be here and keep people in safe in those harsh environments,” he says.
The course is roughly 3.1 miles and takes participants around several obstacles, including hurdles, a climbing wall, tire toss and burpees. McCrarey says there is something for all ages.
“We bring all of our fun cool awesome stuff down here and they get to see that and you can see the spark in their face. They love coming down and talking to us. That is probably my favorite part,” he says.
All proceeds from the race and obstacle course goes to EPD Foundations efforts to provide support to the families of officers.
“They have a tough job everyday and it’s good to come up and show them that your behind them,” says Doran.
