By Ethan Duran
District Seven of the Milwaukee Police Department will be hosting a free Easter Egg Hunt on April 14 in Wahl Park, 4750 N. 48th St. at 1 p.m.
The Easter Egg Hunt will have a gift give-away, an Easter Bunny and around 1,000 plastic eggs filled with candy hidden across the entire park.
District Seven’s Captain Willie Murphy will be attending the event along with community members.
Not only is the Easter Egg Hunt a free event that is open to children and families, it will be a way to foster relations between the police and the community.
Police Officer Lawson Murrell is a Community Liaison Officer for District Seven. Community Liaison teams exist in each district and are in charge of solving small community problems and improving community relations.
“I think it’s incumbent on the police department to build positive relationships with the community,” Murrell said. “This is a small step in doing so.”
If younger people have positive interactions with the police, they will have a better relationship with them when they grow up.
The event is set up by the Milwaukee Police Department, but police-community events depend on time and donations given from the community. Organizations like the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation are usually partitioned to buy candy for the Easter Egg Hunt.
Senator Lena Taylor and Alderman Khalif J. Rainey have attended the event before, but it has not been confirmed yet if any local politicians would show up or not. This event is one in five of the District 7 Community Liaison team’s yearly events, which occur during the major holidays like Christmas, Easter and Halloween.
In previous years, the Easter Egg Hunt has attracted 200-300 kids and families. Music and entertainment have not been confirmed yet for this year.
Easter this year will be on Sunday, April 21.