Zombies needed for police training

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The City of Delaware Police Department will host the 27th International Police Mountain Bike Association training conference next week and needs the community’s help to bring a zombie horde to life.

Delaware Police Officer Robert Hatcher said about 300 bike officers from 35 states and several territories in Canada will be in Delaware from June 5 to 9 to take part in several training courses and seminars.

Hatcher said zombie volunteers are needed for a training scenario on June 7 that will teach bike officers how to handle large crowds like those at a concert. Hatcher said the zombies were an added touch to make the training more fun for the officers and the volunteers.

“The conference does this training every year, but since we’re hosting we thought we’d do something fun with it,” Hatcher said.

Delaware residents can sign up to take part in the training by visiting the Connections Volunteer Center website at https://www.connectionsvolunteercenter.org/

“Undead volunteers” must check in at 11:30 a.m. on June 7 and there will be a zombie costume contest with prizes immediately after check in.

Living volunteers are also welcome, according to the volunteer center, and can check in at 12:15 p.m.

The event will conclude at 4 p.m.

Volunteers must be at least 18 and bring a driver’s license or state ID. The volunteers center also stipulates that participants will be outdoors and must be physically fit enough to move quickly and stand for long periods of time.

Hatcher said on May 25 that the police department is seeking 75 volunteers and had only gotten little more than a dozen volunteers.

Hatcher said the IPMBA conference is an annual event that rotates locations throughout the U.S. and said that Delaware won the bid to host the conference about five years ago.

In addition to the zombie training scenario there will be response team training courses, maintenance course and a variety of workshops and seminars.

By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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