ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The Mall at Greece Ridge welcomed the public to talk and engage with local first responders in the mall’s center court Saturday afternoon, hoping to strengthen community ties and boost recruitment for public safety careers.
Bill Judkins, director of marketing and public relations for the Mall at Greece Ridge and Pittsford Plaza, says he has been close to public safety workers his whole life. He believes this event is crucial for members of the local community and the workers that protect and serve them.
Judkins says, “I thought it was important to try to have the public safety agencies of the Town of Greece and Monroe County make themselves available for community engagement and recruitment— recruitment being one of the main things ’cause there is just such a shortage of people working in public safety nowadays.”
Judkins says anyone interested in a career in public safety got to learn more, and the community has something to gain from talking with first responders in this setting.
“You’re able to engage with them in a different way,” explains Judkins, “in a non-emergency way, so you can see them differently.”
At the mall, personnel from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Greece Police Department, Monroe Ambulance, Wilmorite Security, Department of Public Safety, Stop DUI Task Force, Monroe County Department of Emergency Communications, and Monroe County Association of Volunteer Fire Fighters participated in the event.
Judkins hopes to make this an annual event.
Source: Rochester First
