Goldsboro police will be part of 2009 governor's calendar
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on December 15, 2008 1:46 PM
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Perhaps the last time you saw one of these men in blue was when he issued you a traffic ticket.
For a less stressful view of Goldsboro's police officers, however, turn to the March page of the 2009 N.C. Governor's Highway Safety Program calendar.
From about 40 submissions, Goldsboro's photo made the cut for the calendar, which is produced yearly as an appreciation gesture to law enforcement, said Beth Horner of the Highway Safety Program.
Police Maj. Mike Hopper and Capt. J.J. Biggins announced the department's appearance in the calendar.
One big part of the photo was an F15-E Strike Eagle, which appeared behind patrol cars and Officers Chris Melvin, Chris Irby, Jay Holland, Brandon Harper, Sgt. Neal Lynch, Cpl. Chris Crawford and captains Biggins, Michael West and Grayham Keesler.
The Strike Eagle's appearance was one of the last duties of former Fourth Fighter Wing Col. Steve Kwast, Hopper said. Kwast ended his service at Seymour Johnson Air Force base in late August.
"It took a lot of coordination. It took a couple of months for (Kwast) to get things set up," Hopper said. "It took a great effort for the base to pull it off for us."
In 2007, the calendar organizers obtained their own content for the publication. This year, however, the state organization asked police departments to send in their own photos.
Calendar organizer Ms. Horner said the goal was creativity from police departments, who featured everything from Durham Bulls' mascot "Wool E. Bull" to the state aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores in their submitted photos.
"We tried to do things a little differently this year," Ms. Horner said. "We asked them to submit a photo of their traffic unit, asked them to be creative, to show whatever they wanted to represent their agency."
Copies of the calendar are available at the Goldsboro Police Department.