SUGARCREEK BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) — The Sugarcreek Borough Police Department with the help of former police chief Rick Baker, engaged in some community policing on Halloween.

According to current Police Chief Matt Carlson, the police department handed out Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters at the police station during the borough’s annual Halloween festivities on Tuesday night.

“It was something positive we could do,” Carlson said. “It’s us telling the kids we can be their friends. It helps them get over the fear of the police and brings us all closer.”

Carlson told the borough council that Baker donated $243.66 worth of candy bars — Nestle Crunk and chocolate bars — for the kids and the department bought another four bags of candy to hand out.

“It’s almost all gone,” Carlson said. “It was a great turnout.”

Carlson thanked his daughter, Haley Carlson, for passing out the candy and Sherry Miller for volunteering to dress up as Eddie Eagle.

“It’s important to get the kids out to the police station and see us like this,” Carlson said.

BOROUGH POLICE RECEIVE FUNDING THROUGH TRUST TO BUY V-WATCH

Carlson told the council the police department received funding from Michael and Joyce Hughes, the trustees of the Edward V. and Jessie L. Peters charitable trust in the amount of $4,401.72.

A portion of the money — $1,121.76 — was used to purchase four V-Watch Personal Voltage protectors.

“The V-Watch personal voltage protector detects electrical field, which surrounds every AC conductor,” Carlson said. “The closer you are, the stronger the field. High voltage is a stronger field and a longer distance, lower voltage is a lighter field and decreased distance. The V-Watch detector works by sensing the electrical field in the vicinity and saves lives by alerting us to this electric field.”

The watch is worn around an officer or first-responders neck and starts working as soon as it is opened up. Carlson said when it detects an electric field it starts beeping and lights up.

“The closer you get, the more urgent the beeping and lighting up gets until it is a steady beep and light up,” Carlson said.

According to Carlson, the device is very handy at accident scenes where wires have been brought down or in instances when fallen trees have brought wires down.

“It lets the officer know if the wire is live or not and whether or not they need to back off until the power company can shut down the line,” Carlson said.

The goal is to eliminate injuries and deaths caused by fallen power lines, something police officers in Venango County are all too familiar after Pennsylvania State Trooper Brian Allen Patterson was killed walking into a live electrical wire on February 14, 2003.

According to Carlson, the remaining money from the trust was used for training purposes.

OLD POLICE VEHICLE SOLD

The 2008 Ford Explorer, which served as the home car for the borough’s now-defunct K-9 program, was sold through an auction for $3,500.00 to Ron Tobias of Wernersville, Pa.

The council approved the sale of the vehicle and is requiring Tobias to pay by certified check or cash when he picks the vehicle up, which is supposed to happen on November 7.